I plod on, with my

shadow on my back, flat and --


yet very heavy.

I liked the way our shadows that night
               leaned out into light
that rained down from the street lamps' buzzing
               --just like my insides--
Control my racing heartbeat and remember just to breathe.
Fifty feet beneath our ranging footsteps,
surging river drives and weaves.

                    It felt like I was dancing
                      with you next to me
            while we walked along the course
                        of a familiar street
                Was it just tricks of the light
                                 at night?
                 Please don't leave me behind.
          Let me watch you dance with shadows
                      even if it makes me blind.

                    If that's what makes me blind
                    then I don't care to see again.
                    I'll greet these quaking knees
                                           and palpitations
                                                as old friends.

You told me that your lantern lately
               had been flick'ring low,
guttered by the dead-eyed hunger
               of some folks you know,
Confided that you'd had it with them, and with your own doubt.
Tried to find a way to tell you that I
know how that feels--to drown
                                             when our rivers roar and pound

                    I felt like we were dancing
                           in our ***** street
               while our shadows walked ahead
                        just laughing silently.
                    It wasn't tricks of the night,
                                   alright?
                     I won't leave you behind.
             Even when you dance with shadows.
                       Even if it makes me blind.

                    If that's what makes me blind
                    then I don't need to see again
                    as long as shadows sing me
                         whispered torch songs
                               now and then...

I liked the way our shadows that night
               leaned out into light...

I am not accustomed to feelings of longing
As it is now not from a person

I stand on the creaking logs in the middle of a swamp's river
Balancing to remain afloat

I watch from a distance
Sitting on my rain cloud
As my acid raindrops on your safe haven homeland

I have hidden my heart under these planks
And the beating is like black and yellow sparks
Screaming in my ear
"Now,"
They shriek,
"Now."

I'm like an artist staring at a canvas
The rainbows swirl in my mind
But there is no shadow
There is no story.?

I watch the band from below
I shower them with photos
And they ask me to be there
Again and again

I watch from the wood
Longing to be in the rainbow rain
I describe the floorboards
Because that is all I know.

I look down at the mirror and see
a me with flesh and blood in her teeth,
a grin washes across her face
as our eyes meet and carve out space.
I can’t bear to look at her at first—
the monster staring back at me.
I thought her words must be cursed.

“Looking away won’t save you from me.
We are already the same, you see—

You.
And.
Me.

So look away if you must,
but just know—
I’m in every shadow that you leave.
Every breath you take
gives life to me.”

Doubts. Fear. A dark past.
We all have them-
but listen to me now:

We fight.
We fight our shadows,
our weakness,
our doubts-
and yet we rise our fist higher than before.

Fear is close- always near- but we move forward,
we don't let it take over us
we never let it win.

Our dark past.
Yes, they hurt.
But let them clear your path,
embrace them, hold them tight,
let them be your reminder:
You are stronger.

Grow like trees
some never watered,
yet they still rise-
breaking stone, reaching the skies.

Have the courage to rise from fear,
don't let it drown you deeper.
Stand tall.
Face your shadow- and fight.

Light upon the light
High atop the high
Let the lucky brow
Paradise shines
May your most beautiful eyes
Cast a glance!

Let it light up  
A candle in front of the mirror.  
Ah, wild glimpses—  
Ultimately nuanced,  
An enduring treasure,  
Eternity in shadow,  
Gently showing up.  

Dear, the buzz is all in bloom.  
Without one, nothing is whole.  
The sun scrolls down in sizzling gold,  
Never derailing, never sliding back,  
Looping into the shrouded night.  
The color is half full, half light,  
Hues reflecting a zillion stars.  

Time moves in discovery,  
Ever burning the midnight oil—  
The humble moon,  
Lingering beneath your midnight-black locks.  
The color, the fire—will it be the first to spot  
Your veiled face, the true morning rose?

The shadows come at night
They make everything feel alright
Who hasn’t ever stopped to think
You can hide away and shrink
Into depths unknown
By yourself all alone
Time ceases to exist
Your own eternal bliss
Nothing seems quite the same
Something magical you can trace
Solidarity with the night
Like a blanket
Now it’s all ok
You never have to be afraid
Something i can see
A cosmic journey from the start
It tears apart your heart
Something different something new
—Timothy Charles Carter