Shadow Poetry

themis

Daphne Shadows2 Comments

do you ever lose a moment

to the ever present night?

only to realize too late

it was swallowed by the light?

i think we have it wrong

i think we’re quite confused

it’s never the dark that takes

it’s the bright lights that use

they hide behind their masks

and pretend to hold a flame

what we all new was truth

and never could quite tame

true light in the darkness

when real, is well and good

but nothing teaches better

than being lost in the abyss would

and don’t we feel all alone

in the cold light of day?

instead, a warm embrace

for which we all pray

you don’t need a crutch

you need to learn to see

when you squint against the sun

moments lost to eternity.

Shadow Poetry

silhouettes

Daphne Shadows2 Comments

i always remember

how the darkness

touched your tongue

when they forced you

into the light

your shadow drowned

their malice, their deceptions

found the fissures

dissolved your color

now you’re dull

on their pedestal

made of gold

but i’ll always remember

how you were ablaze

moon kissed and warm

Micro Stories

hushed tone

Daphne Shadows1 Comment

whisper into the hollow

and forget yourself

until every spark ignites your soul

they’ll fight through the thicket

trying to drown the light

inside

what are you saying?

words whispered

lips parting against

somebody’s neck

what are you saying?

when they’re not watching

etching tendrils of magick into being

was it a noose

or did you let down your hair

to save them?

press your palm

into all your wet intentions

take it back and they’ll remember

your name

is it dripping gold

or blood?

Shadow Poetry

act none

Daphne Shadows2 Comments

i think i heard the last one

i think i heard it falling

but every time i look

there’s a blinding light calling

they said i shouldn’t try

i’d only taste more pain

i really did attempt

but i simply couldn’t refrain

now there’s a naked procession

a broken crown on the floor

an empty throne down the hall

and it’s not so cold anymore.

by Daphne Shadows

Stream of Consciousness

is social media a hamster wheel?

Daphne Shadows2 Comments

do you ever consider deleting all your social media?

facebook, twitter, instagram?

i wonder if there’s any point in it.

i mean, i’ve garnered some pretty freaking cool relationships because of it… but none of which would really be effected if i disappeared.

i mean, am i contributing anything good? PURPOSEFUL? helpful?

i don’t know, really.

human connection is such an infinite, finite, ever-changing and solid thing. it’s like trying to capture smoke in a bottle. did you really get it? or is everything simply a hamsters-running-in-a-wheel, situation? pointless and useless, but keeps you moving, feeling like you’re going somewhere?

i just don’t know.

is my footprint, simply there? or is it a positive influence that actually helps someone, anyone?

how many times can one blather on about their inner workings? (when the right mood hits, i can, for eons) and is it any use?

in this world of attacking someone for having a different favorite hairstyle than you and digging through years old tweets (leaving zero room for human growth or change, apparently) specifically for the purpose of smearing their name in the mud – am i more than a whisper? am i contributing? or am i simply fooling myself?

is it that when everyone has a megaphone, no one does? or is it truly that negativity always screams louder and most days, people search that out for the drama? meanwhile, the positivity is buried. buried, even, by all the mundane yammering of normalcy and humanness that is to be human?

and for all my speaking – am i saying anything worth hearing?

i. just. don’t. know.

Shadow Poetry

Blood & Salt

Daphne ShadowsLeave a comment

I have days
Where I wish
I wasn’t

My fingertips
Burning
With all this
Broken belief

Broken mirrors
Full of dreams
I naively
Dreamt

There are all
These rules
Where I just
Don’t belong

My soul
Is a song
No one wants
To sing

Hope is
A betrayer
A siren song
Sweet lullaby
Sweeping in
To caress

Only,
I don’t see
Until it’s too late
The charcoal claws
Coming for
My soft underbelly

Carving out the warmth
Leaving me hollow
In bed sheets
Wet with blood and salt
Tears I didn’t know
I had left

No porcelain grave
To weep for
My loss

I am barred
From slumber
Repreive

I am begging
For magic
On my knees
Before the abyss

When I’m honest
Alone with
The helpless child
And monster
In me
I wish
I wish I wasn’t

by Daphne Shadows

Shadow Poetry

physio logical

Daphne Shadows2 Comments

remember to breathe into the still moments

the ones decorated with your tears, hiding in the background

the small ember of hope, dancing just out of reach

they’re waiting for you

to see them

touch them

remember to breathe into the painful moments

the one’s teaching you something, scars leaving behind your map

the large expanse of needing, underneath the floorboards

they’re built in

already used up

but renewable

remember to breathe into the forgotten moments

the one’s that broke you, leaving breadcrumbs behind your eyes

subtle hiccups of laughter and sunshine, as winter douses your flames

they’re lovely

love letters

savour them

remember to breathe into the unwanted moments

i know they hurt, but you’re stronger than their framework

your foundation is made of pillow talk and early morning dances

you can do this

they whisper

keep going

remember to breathe into the silence

and when it comes, you will be ready

to hear its brilliance

written inside

your bones

By Daphne Shadows

Micro Stories

lift

Daphne ShadowsLeave a comment

the wind whispers through your embrace. heat strangling the darkness with lace. and they forgot to look for you. should have done so when the lights were on. to be honest, they thought your light would be gone. give it a few days as they pursed their lips and dropped poison down the line.

but we can all see you now. waiting on the horizon, darkness draping you ablaze until it’s hard to look at you. harder to look away. all their hushed gatherings, blood in the drain… for nothing. not even they could hide the brilliance of your silhouette.

not with a thousand nooses. not with a single lie.

traipsing around in ringlets and finery, death shrouds at their wrists. even they stood in awe when night fell. you’d won when they’d counted on you coming undone.

its dangerous to forget. the waves can only erode so many bodies. their secrets can only hold so many people down. until someone remembers you.

a single voice to wake your truth. then nothing can hold you back.

insidious breath never smothers the live fire.

By Daphne Shadows