Shadow Walker
Taqwaa Fayyaz 2003 (Lahore)
I start with fire to burn the paper that holds the words he said
The fire, it touches me like ice, and the paper, watch out! the paper shreds
Whispers, he, the Shadow Walker, I'm sorry, indeed, that I left
But the tide is out and the cycle repeats and he leaves her with the fire again
I start with ice, to sooth the burn, my wounds cry out a hiss
It snakes around me, pain, it festers, and bleeds out through my wrists
Grabs, he, the shadow Walker, my arm, his eyes, they cry with regret
But the tide is in and the cycle repeats and he leaves her with the ice again
I start with knives, to cut a cloth and white becomes a red
I pull it open, a cabinet, with bottles lining the shelf
Shakes me, hard, the shadow walker, he found me on the doorstep
But the tide is gone, the cycle shall end, and the shadow walker won't leave again
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About this poem
The story of a husband and wife; the victims of circumstance during World War 2. A husband who cannot help but leave to participate in a war he does not believe in and a wife who cannot cope with the loneliness and fear to the extent that she inflicts pain on herself as a method of trying to make him stay with her for longer. But his leaving again and again proves too much for her and finally overcome with depression she takes a whole bottle of sleeping pills right at the entrance of the door the day he was meant to return during his off duty time. He finds her right as she is about to die, and thus, for her, her husband, the Shadow Walker remains eternally with her, never to leave again. The husband is termed as the Shadow Walker. Shadows, our companions in light, leave us when darkness falls. For the wife, a young girl of 19, her husband left her during the darkest moments of her life even though, she perhaps knows in her heart that he is bound by duty to do it. And yet, she cannot more »
Written on December 10, 2022
Submitted by beel.11191 on December 09, 2022
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 1 View
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | AXXB XXXB AXXB |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
| Characters | 888 |
| Words | 184 |
| Stanzas | 3 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4 |
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"Shadow Walker" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/148150/shadow-walker>.
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