Shadows outward, shadows inward, shadows all around,
Shadows downward, shadows upward, shadows cast upon the ground,
There are no places where the shadows do not abound,
Shadows shifting all around, till myself cannot be found,
Encompassing shadows that deepen so that to the ear there is no sound.

From dark beginning, through the dark to dark's ending,
I trek onward with oppressive loneliness descending,
Old fears, dying hopes and murdered dreams, I try to keep off ward fending,
An ever aching growing pain as heart and soul are slowly rending,
I am trapped alone and lost on a dark path that keeps onward forever wending.

I can sense the light but see only the shadows and the dark,
I look behind but there is no return path for me to mark,
I gaze upward but no stars or moonshine through this dark,
I look ahead and see the path dark, empty and stark,
Hopeless shadows and soulfelt loneliness are all I have in this dark.
shadowwv 7/18/95