Casting Of Shadows
John Jessup Kennan 1953 (Pomona)
I asked if she dreams in color
Eyes like candles at Midnight Mass
You can't see the forest for the fire
"Only when there's blood," she laughs
Shadows all look the same in the dark
Somebody got murdered in prison last night
Can't see shadows for the darkness
Shadows all look the same in the light
Disappear into darkness
Dance by firelight
Illusive impressions in sunshine
Elusive in the night
She keeps a razor in the nightstand
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
Daggers spent, like prayers are sent
Now she lay me down to sleep
A soup bowl made from a human skull
Fulfilled a tear collection
A hot tub filled with piranha
Bouncing baby resurrection
Disappear into darkness
Disappear into light
Illusions impressed in sunshine
Elusive in the night
Matty fell out of a window
Kenny drove into a telephone pole
David OD'd in a hotel room
Susan fell into a bottomless hole
Burning Mass candles at midnight
To darkness where its shadow glows
Smoky wisp of extinguished light
The uncasting of the shadows
Disappear into darkness
Dance by firelight
Elusive impressions in sunshine
Impressive illusions at night
Disappear like a shadow
Into darkness, into light
Your lights have all been led to you
There's nowhere to take flight
Shadows will not follow you
They will not miss you in the night
Dance in the light of the sunshine
Before they read you your last lights
Disappear from darkness
Elusive in the night
Illusions impressed by fire
Shadows dance in sunlight
© John Kennan 2014
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Submitted by rankstranger7 on May 24, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:19 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | axax xbcb CBdB xexe xfxf CbdB ghxh bibi CBdb gbjb jbdx cBab f |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,466 |
Words | 261 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1 |
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"Casting Of Shadows" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/100753/casting-of-shadows>.
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