Shadow Play

Shadow Play

By Muriel Palanca



You know what love shall not permit, what death cannot endure.

For mercy’s sake when it shall pass and come knocking on my door,

Let there be a memory of times when all could be embraced,

Far too few and out of reach for my aching heart to taste.

Upon your eyes the stars are fixed, the strength and silence softly glows.

It’s light that shines but cannot warm. The distance never seems to close.

By whose permission can I breathe, beneath this sky I’ve fallen under?

Here on earth where the sound of rain can be louder than the breaking thunder.

Wind leaves the candle flickering but the dying flame refused to stay.

If I let the candle cease to burn, I knew the shadow would go away.

It’s an outline drawn without a face, a human piece of what God forgot,

A lovely trace of uncertainty and all the things that we are not.

Its shadow hands are just like mine. They reach to touch but cannot feel,

Like a broken mirror echoing or part of something that once was real.

I grasp the shadow upon the wall. It moved but I could not perceive

The wall was just as cold and hard when the illusion finally chose to leave.

Its imprint did not leave a trace. No one would know it was ever there.

The lightless room was a darker shade for a greater shadow I could not bear.

I’d given kindling to the fire though to deprive would hurt me less,

And though it was not good enough, I swear I always did my best

With a single flame in a darkened room, a tender thing forgiving doubt.

Since shadows play but do not change, the matter can’t be lived without.

Without the object it cannot form. Without the surface it can’t be seen.

Without the candle there is no flame and without the light it cannot be.