The Shadow of Elspeth Brown
The sky was grey on that fateful day,
The sun was going down,
I made my way through a field of hay
To the cottage of Elspeth Brown.
She lived alone by the forest there
And studied her ancient tomes,
Her Grimoires, Necronomicons,
And her hearth was filled with bones!
I'd loved the girl for a year or two
And I'd made my interest known,
She was torn, she said, by the spells in her head,
She needed to be alone.
I knew she was seeing another guy
He called when I wasn't around,
‘He's more like the shade of a ghost, ' she said,
‘I raised him, out of the ground! '
She looked distraught as she waved me in,
Her hair was a tangled mess,
A book that featured some ugly Djin
Lay open across her dress.
I've never been one for the ancient arts
Of Magick, or spells and glooms,
But Elspeth wanted to play her part,
Cast spells in the afternoons!
I saw a copy of Crowley there,
A copy of Dragon Noir,
The Grimoire of Honorius
Was scattered across a chair!
‘What horrible Djin have you raised up
From the terrible realm of hell? '
I laughed, but Elspeth began to frown
And conjured another spell!
‘Three bat-wings and a gouty toad
And a strand of a maiden's hair,
A philtre of deadly nightshade stirred
With the leg of a wooden chair!
A third of a pint of hemlock, gathered
Close to the midnight hour…'
The sun was gone and the bright moon shone
Through the door of my lady's bower!
I thought to say it was nonsense,
Raised my eyes and stared in the gloom,
And there was her patient shadow cast
On the whitewashed wall of the room,
A shadow hand ran up through the hair
So tangled, under her cap,
I looked again at my erstwhile friend,
Her hands were down in her lap!
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck
Rise up, and a breathless chill,
The shadow had suddenly straightened up
My heart was standing still,
Two horns curled out of the shadow's head
Distinct on the further wall,
When Elspeth suddenly screamed, and said:
‘My skin's beginning to crawl! '
She spilled the book on the oaken floor,
Jumped up and looked at the wall,
The shadow that she had claimed for her own
Was suddenly eight feet tall,
It raised its hands in a threatening way
Against all physical laws,
I went to say, in a blank dismay:
‘Those fingers look like claws! '
We rushed together, out of the door,
Her screaming, me in fright,
The moon was rising, up in the sky,
You couldn't tell day from night,
The shadow followed, hard on our heels
And spread out over the ground,
I noticed it wasn't attached to her feet,
But followed with never a sound!
It moved around, ran by her side,
And then I saw it ahead,
She stopped in horror, whatever she'd done,
She'd summoned a Djin from the dead!
‘You'll have to set up an undo spell, '
I knew that she was to blame,
‘I can't, ' she muttered, ‘I don't know how,
He was here before you came! '
She wandered back to the cottage at last,
‘It's only a shadow, ' she said,
‘I shouldn't be worried, it won't hurt me! '
I turned on my heel, and fled!
I'm such a coward with magical things,
I ran full pelt all the way,
Then lay in dread, hid under my bed
‘Til the sun came up, next day!
I finally plucked the courage up
To return to the cottage there,
I stood in the yard, and called on out:
‘Elspeth - come out if you dare! '
A shadow stood in the hallway
And my heart, it turned to stone,
As I read the note on the lintel post,
‘I want to be left alone! '
The sun was high in the morning sky
As I looked on down at my feet,
There wasn't a sign of a shadow there,
My heart then skipped a beat,
For there on the inner whitewashed wall
And beyond the hallway Djin,
I could see two shadows, making love,
But I hadn't the nerve to go in!
poem by David Lewis Paget
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Related quotes
You and My Shadow
You never noticed how your single glance
pressed my shadow on the wall.
And by simply smiling even once,
my pressed shadow falls
and melts into the ground.
As though some unseen force from you
had taken control around.
How come you never noticed
my shadow on the wall...
pressed by some unseen force
when by my name you called.
And how it hid beneath my feet
when your shadow's close to mine!
Just when I walked ahead of you,
it's almost left behind.
And now you kiss me with your lips,
your eyes have said it all.
But dear, have you noticed
my pressed shadow on the wall?
poem by Jessel Jane Tevar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Chair
Grandma’s chair is rockin’, but she ain’t sittin’ there,
so who’s that sittin’ in grandma’s favourite chair?
And whose is that shadow standing by the wall?
Could it be our grandma..? ‘No, not at all.’
I’ve no idea whose shadow that could be,
it’s certainly not mine and you’re behind me.
Who is that sittin’ where grandma sat each night?
and could it be the shadow is a trick of the light?
Could it be our granddad standing by the wall?
‘No, it’s not granddad, he wasn’t that tall.
The chair’s still rockin’, but the shadow has gone.
The chair has stopped; they’ve both moved on.’
poem by Orlando Belo
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The Shadow
I had a dream one night
In which i walked through a meadow
The sun was blazing an intense heat
My heart was pounding
When I noticed a shadow
Hanging its head in defeat
It copied my motions
And stopped when I stopped
And ran when I started to run
I was runnug as fast as I could
And searching the sky
For a place somewhere above the sun
That's when I felt an ache
Deep within me
As though every pain I've ever felt
Were sudddenly one
The shadow was standing
As still as could be
I tried to stop the tears
When I felt them come
They burned tiny paths
Down my sweaty cheeks
The clouds seemed to laugh
When the rain began to pour
As if taunting me
I watched as the shadow
Raised its arms into the air
Together we cried out, 'Oh Lord,
Help me end this despair! '
I think I made an effort to catch it,
But the shadow crumpled to the ground
Just as the weather turned fair
poem by Erika Wingo
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Three Shadows
I LOOKED and saw your eyes
In the shadow of your hair,
As a traveller sees the stream
In the shadow of the wood;
And I said, “My faint heart sighs,
Ah me! to linger there,
To drink deep and to dream
In that sweet solitude.”
I looked and saw your heart
In the shadow of your eyes,
As a seeker sees the gold
In the shadow of the stream;
And I said, “Ah me! what art
Should win the immortal prize,
Whose want must make life cold
And Heaven a hollow dream?”
I looked and saw your love
In the shadow of your heart,
As a diver sees the pearl
In the shadow of the sea;
And I murmured, not above
My breath, but all apart,—
“Ah! you can love, true girl,
And is your love for me?”
poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
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Shadow Of The Sun
Once upon a time
I was on a mind to lay your burden down
And leave you where you stood
You believed I could
Youd seen it done before
I could read your thoughts
And tell you what you saw
And never say a word
But now that is gone
Over with and done
And never to return
I can tell you why
People die alone
I can tell you why
The shadow on the sun
Staring at the loss
Looking for the cause
And never really sure
Nothing but a hole
To live without a soul
And nothing to be learned
I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you on
The shadow on the sun
Shapes of every size
Move behind my eyes
Doors inside my head
Bolted from within
Every drop of flame
Lights a candle in
Memory of the one
Who lived inside my skin
I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you on
The shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Sun
Sun
song performed by by Audioslave
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shadow Man
Theres a man back a-ways
Who believes at where he is
And theres a girl
Up ahead who says she knows
And the street overflows
With the folk who understand
But for the guy who cant be seen
Hes the shadow man
And the shadow man is close at hand
Take a turn and see his smile
Made of nothing but loneliness
Just take a walk and be a friend
To the shadow man
You can call him joe, you can call him sam
You should call and see who answers
For he promises to come running, guided by the truth
But the shadow man is really you
Look in his eyes and see your reflection
Look to the stars and see his eyes
Hell show you tomorrow, hell show you the sorrows
Of what you did today
You can call him foe, you can call him friend
You should call and see who answers
For he knows your eyes are drawn to the road ahead
And the shadow man is waiting round the bend
Oh, the shadow man
Ohooooo oooo
Shadow man, shadow man
Its really you, its really you, its really you
Hes the shadow man
Oh yeah
Shadow man
song performed by by David Bowie
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Book of Van den Braak
I stared at the book on the table
Where it lay on the weathered oak,
The cover so black and tarnished,
Tanned in leather through coils of smoke,
Its ancient layers had long been carved
As petals of some grim flower,
Where an evil mildew spread its mould
From the walls of that ancient tower.
The book was set like an altar piece
In that ancient, flagstoned hall,
Catching the feeble rays of light
Through cracks in the old stone wall,
I hastened to look away, but yet
It gripped me in its glare,
Like some old German Grimoire...
Though no title page was there!
I reached for the cover and opened it,
The leather creaked with age,
As it formed with its rotting petals
Into a rose around the page,
The smell of the mildew wafted up
And the chill was damp and stark,
There was nothing but evil in that tower,
In the book of Van den Braak.
I leant right over the book and saw
A woodcut of a lane,
The trees were grim in their winter coats
As the snow gave way to rain,
The mud was thick on the barren leaves
That were mulched from the Autumn's fall,
And I felt it squelch right under my feet
As the wind howled round the hall!
The tower was gone, I stood outside
In the rain and the brooding dark,
Walking along a windswept lane
In the book of Van den Braak,
I saw the light of a cottage there,
Set back in among the trees,
And a woman wailed on the painted step,
My own, my dear Louise!
I ran towards her, through a stream
That babbled beside the lane,
Louise was crying and wailing there,
She muttered: 'I'm not to blame! '
I must have seemed like a phantom there,
I waved, but she couldn't see,
She said, 'you shouldn't have killed him,
I just asked you to set me free! '
A man ran out from the cottage door,
His coat was covered in blood,
He ran his hands through his tangled hair
And fell, to kneel in the mud.
He took her into his arms and cried,
She clung, and called him Mark,
And then when he turned, I saw his face,
I knew him - Van den Braak!
I must have been quite invisible
In the pages of that book,
Or they were a couple of phantoms
Making love as I stood and shook,
I walked around to the cottage door
And peered in out of the rain,
I lay stone dead on the hearthstone there,
A bullet lodged in my brain.
In shock I turned, I saw the tower,
I ran with all my might,
Back to the Norman Keep and Moat,
Back through the surly night,
The eyes of demons had followed me
From high in the trees of the park,
But I was ready for come-what-may
At the hands of Van den Braak!
Then suddenly, I was in the tower,
Leaning over the book,
When Van den Braak called out that he
Was ready to take a look,
I'd brought the book with the tenants' rents
Of those that lived in the park,
But I stabbed him high in the rib cage there,
And cut his throat in the dark!
I went to his German Grimoire
Fell once more through the open page,
Went looking for my Louise, by now
In the white hot throes of rage,
She sat and wailed on the painted step
And muttered there in the dark...
'I didn't ask you to kill the man,
Just free me from Van den Braak! '
1 April 2010
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Shadow
Your body's warm but you are not
You give a little not a lot
It could be love until we kiss
You're all I want but not like this
I'm watching you disappear
But you, you were never here
CHOURS
It's only your shadow,
Never yourself
It's only your shadow,
Nobody else
It's only your shadow,
Filling the room
Arriving too late
And leaving too soon.
And leaving too soon.
Your body gives but then holds back
The sun is bright the sky is black
Can only be another sign
I can not I keep what isn't mine
Your laughter, it lingers on
But you, you were almost gone
CHOURS
It's only your shadow,
Never yourself
It's only your shadow,
Nobody else
It's only your shadow,
Filling the room
Arriving too late
And leaving too soon.
And leaving too soon.
How can I tell if you mean what you say?
You say it so loud but you sound far away
Maybe I'll have just a glimpse of your soul
Or was that your shadow I saw on the wall?
I'm watching you disappear
But you, you were never here.
CHOURS
It's only your shadow,
Never yourself
It's only your shadow,
Nobody else
It's only your shadow,
Filling the room
Arriving too late
No, no, no
It's only your shadow
It's only your shadow
Nobody else
It's only your shadow
Arriving too late
And leaving too soon
Oooh.
It's only your shadow.
song performed by by Britney Spears
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shadow Me
Shadow me oh my
Dark emotion.
Shadow me all the way!
Shadow me to rock
In cradle heart,
To sway and just to sway!
Shadow me as a
Shady love tree,
In my hot, scorching day!
Shadow me must in,
Middle of night,
Like a gleaming pure ray!
Shadow me, shadow,
My foggy love,
Shadow wild me to tame.
Shadow to follow
My every step,
Shadow me in each poem!
poem by Nilakshi Das
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His Shadow
When I was young
the shadow he cast was long.
When I was afraid.
In his shadow I could be brave.
Walking together
watching his shadow by mine.
I yearned for the time
like his my shadow would be long.
As the fledgling finally
flies alone from the nest.
To step away from his shadow
my time came.
One day long after
my child at my side.
Two shadows I saw.
One long joined one small.
In my thoughts
I reflected to when
the longer shadow.
My father cast.
I realized
the time had come.
The father's shadow
now my shadow.
(04SEP97)
poem by Kurt Hearth
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Shadow On The Wall
Shadow on the wall
Shadow on the wall
Shadow on the wall
Shadow on the wall
Like a shadow on the wall
Treat me like a prisoner
Treat me like a fool
Treat me like a loser
Use me as a tool
Face me till I'm hungry
Push me in the cold
Treat me like a criminal
Just a shadow on the wall
Treat me like I'm evil
Freeze me till I'm cold
Beat me till I'm feeble
Grab me till I'm old
Fry me till I'm tired
Push me till I fall
Treat me like a criminal
Just a shadow on the wall
song performed by by Mike Oldfield from Crises
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Shadow Falls
When I see a shadow fall
pale against my bedroom wall
I always look around to see
if that shadow was just me?
If there's no one else in sight
I silently give way to the night
and sleep.
When I see a shadow fall
dark against my bedroom wall,
I'm afraid to look at its dark sight
for if that shadow isn't me
I fear just what that shadow might be.
And so I cannot
fall asleep.
When I see a shadow fall
white against my bedroom wall
I will not look upon that scene
fearing what that shadow might mean.
Maybe a ghost is visiting me
bringing a haunting memory
if I fall asleep.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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Me And My Shadow
Sometimes, my shadow appears really short and small;
Whilst, at others, it stretches ahead of me, thin and tall.
Sometimes, my shadow is behind me; sometimes it’s in front.
Quite often, for my shadow, I find myself having to hunt.
Depending on how the street lamps shine their light,
My shadow may be hidden, or may be within my sight.
Sometimes, I have two shadows, plus me;
Then I appear in triplicate: one, two, three.
Sometimes, when I take my time, my shadow seems to rush;
My shadow dances round me, amid the dark night’s hush.
When I wander through an unlit patch, my shadow disappears;
Although I cannot see it for a moment, I know that it is still near.
As I emerge back into the light, I’m rejoined by my shadow.
My best buddy and I are very firmly attached, down at the toe.
My shadow is featureless; of me, it’s just a darkened outline.
During my night-time journey, it’s an ever changing design.
To my shadowy friend, I do feel really very attached.
We are two of a kind, and, I think, very well matched.
My shadow and I, travel everywhere together;
From each other, we will never ever be severed.
poem by Angela Wybrow
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Evening Song of the Thoughtful Child
Shadow children, thin and small,
Now the day is left behind,
You are dancing on the wall,
On the curtains, on the blind.
On the ceiling, children, too,
Peeping round the nursery door,
Let me come and play with you,
As we always played before.
Let's pretend that we have wings
And can really truly fly
Over every sort of things
Up and up into the sky.
Where the sweet star children play--
It does seem a dreadful rule,
They must stay inside all day.
I suppose they go to school.
And to-night, dears, do you see,
They are having such a race
With their father moon--the tree
Almost hides his funny face.
Shadow children, once at night,
I was all tucked up in bed,
Father moon came--such a fright--
Through the window poked his head;
I could see his staring eyes,
O, my dears, I was afraid,
That was not a nice surprise,
And the dreadful noise I made!
Let us make a fairy ring,
Shadow children, hand in hand,
And our songs quite softly sing
That we learned in fairyland.
Shadow children, hin and small,
See, the day is far behind;
And I kiss you--on the wall--
On the curtains--on the blind.
poem by Katherine Mansfield
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House Of Shadows
Every time and wherever I fall asleep I find myself walking
down this fusty and dark cobwebbed stone stairway.
I don’t know where I am, or where I’m supposed to be going
my memory usually blanks out as I approach the hallway.
This time I’ll try to stay awake and see what lies before me,
the torches on the wall are dim and the light’s not so good.
I hear unearthly scary noises not too far down the corridor
I’m frightened and I’ve a tingling in my blood.
As I hesitated a shadow on the wall pushed me towards a cell
and the noises stopped the instant I looked in.
It was empty except for moving shadows all over the place,
another push sent me tumbling to the floor within.
The cell is deathly quiet as more shadows take to the surfaces
a deep voice echoes out, “Another dreamer has come,
he wants to join the shadows and to bring frightening nightmares
to dreamers who trespass here when their day is done.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry, but coming here was purely by accident.”
“That matters not we welcome all sleepy dreamers here.
You will very soon become a shadow all it takes is a silhouetted cast
and then you will be one of us, just a blank front, side and rear.”
“But I didn’t come here to be a shadow I was just following my dream,
I thought it would have been exciting and possibly even fun.”
“That’s the trouble with dreaming when you’ve become a shadow
you can’t return, and your dark-sides have just begun.”
“Please stay absolutely still as we cast a darkness blank over you,
it takes only seconds to cast your perfect silhouette.”
Without thinking I pulled a flashlight from my pyjama pocket,
the light eliminated some, but the ordeal wasn’t over yet.
The movement of the brighter light emptied the shadowy cell
I ran out into the corridor, the one I came down before.
My torch flickered erratically and the light was becoming dull
the shadows were behind me and gaining for sure.
They had no intention of letting me escape from their darker side.
Quickly I ran whilst shaking the torch to get every bit of light.
A feeling of anguish came over me as they began to pull me back,
they had me, until I awoke and the darkness was out of sight.
poem by Orlando Belo
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Across the Road
To cross or not to cross
was all I thought
when I saw her face across the road.
Her eyes was set as though she lost her soul,
so lost like she is never in this world.
She never minded her shadow on the ground...
her watch as if to melt under her stare,
tic tacked not faster than her heartbeat
for she thought her head was on her feet-
At last, she looked my way
and her pretty face paled.
Suddenly she stood still as though
she gasped some air from death to life...
I can't escape her stare.
To cross or not to cross, I never thought
when across the road she merely stood
nearly meeting her shadow on the ground.
I closed my eyes- I heard the sound
of her crying heart, I found
myself walking away with the woman on my side.
It pained to see her that way cry...
just because I couldn't cross the road for her.
It pained to watch her die.
poem by Jessel Jane Tevar
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My Shadow
Hey there shadow
What's it feel like to be the shadow of me?
Following me around
Head facing down
Got no way of saying
Exactly how you're feeling
In the dark, all the time
What's on your mind?
The shadow
Shadow of me
You're the only one
Who does exactly as i do
Capture every movement
Memorise my fear
You're forever here
By my side
The shadow
Shadow of me
poem by Lucy Vernezze
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Black Flowing Hair, A Memory Of You
I see you leaning by a wall next door
Against an afternoon sun
And though it is your back that faces me
I know
From the beating of my heart
That it is you, Black-flowing-hair
I can smell you
In mint
And you shall be inside me
As I breathe
So I can live for another time
You are
My tallest tree
On top of the Sleeping-dragon-mountain
And I look up to you
Like my full moon one cold night
Untouched by my fingers
Black-flowing-hair
The world may not have found love in my eyes
As I have none to boost
Since I have given it to you
All of it
I shall find it
But shall not take it back
From you
Your shadow is my god
And it is only that I can touch
Without you knowing
The shadow
Of your
Back
My self-made god
Is enough life
I do not ask much
I cannot
You do not know me
There is no need
I only give myself
I do not have to take any
In return
Now I declare
I have found my place
In you
I have found myself
In you
I have found you
I am Mute-white-dove -sitting
On the breast of Black-flowing-hair
Touching the clouds
Holding the rainbow
Saving all the raindrops of my life.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Standing Under Spotlight
I can be a shadow on anyone's wall.
But I can not do that,
Reflecting my own light.
I can cast a shadow at noon...
To have others believe,
I have energy to give I don't need.
But to leave to cast no shadow at all,
I am not yet prepared to do.
So...
If I am caught,
Standing under spotlight...
Bright with a smile toothy white,
You know the applause I am waiting for...
Is anticipated to come from you!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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The Girl Who Loved Her Own Shadow
The girl who loved her own shadow
Once had a nightmare for all times.
She saw in it boys and men without shadows at all!
They were men indeed.
Men with muscles and moustaches as ever
But none had a shadow of their own!
Her father and brother were there
They too had no shadows of any size!
Scared and doomed she was
As she saw that her mother and elder sister
Too had either no shadows or they were very short!
But she saw her own shadow close to herself!
As the nightmare ended, she was seen
Lying in the flood of sweat.
But as she opened the window and she saw another sky
And her sun of resolution was there alone.
She walked along the gravel track
And saw and felt somebody following close to her.
It was her own shadow, another self of tall heights.
She was the first girl who loved her own shadow.
Look back never!
A shadow may be or may not be there.
Sleep not ever!
A dream and a nightmare chase us ever.
poem by M.d Dinesh Nair
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