Shadow-wall
After too long wrapped in the absence of the sun
I decided to draw a line between myself and the shadows.
I piled rocks upon rocks, small and large,
And stopped the gaps with dying leaves,
Fistfuls of grass and twigs which snapped underfoot.
The mound grew monstrous in proportion,
Its height perilous, but I did not pause until
All the darkness was out of sight. Through sinewy
Leaves the sunlight dropped around me, warming
My aching joints, too long inactive whilst mourning the
Brevity of things. I buried the reminder of my grief,
Ever striving to suppress my weakness. For an hour
I felt like spinning, and smiling. But when the sun
Tumbled from the top of the sky I felt the darkening
Afternoon leech between the gaps I knew I must have left,
And saw shadow pooling, lapping at my heels,
And I ran from its inevitability, chasing the day
Through the thinning trees, all the time feeling
Damp rising from the earth, and the wind’s taunting bite.
I decided to draw a line between myself and the shadows.
I piled rocks upon rocks, small and large,
And stopped the gaps with dying leaves,
Fistfuls of grass and twigs which snapped underfoot.
The mound grew monstrous in proportion,
Its height perilous, but I did not pause until
All the darkness was out of sight. Through sinewy
Leaves the sunlight dropped around me, warming
My aching joints, too long inactive whilst mourning the
Brevity of things. I buried the reminder of my grief,
Ever striving to suppress my weakness. For an hour
I felt like spinning, and smiling. But when the sun
Tumbled from the top of the sky I felt the darkening
Afternoon leech between the gaps I knew I must have left,
And saw shadow pooling, lapping at my heels,
And I ran from its inevitability, chasing the day
Through the thinning trees, all the time feeling
Damp rising from the earth, and the wind’s taunting bite.
Published in Paris Lit Up in 2013.
L x
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