A Wolfs Shadow

I've walked these pines with my head held low

Moon on my back, breath in the snow

Every step I take, there's a second sound

Not my echo, but it's always around

I turn too fast, there's nothing there

Just a stretch of dark and frozen air

I laugh it off, say I'm losing time

Just a trick of the moon, just a shadow of mine

Every night when the world goes still

I feel a presence on the hill

Close enough I almost know

But far enough to never show

I thought you were just a wolf's shadow

Painted long by a silver moon

Following where I dare not go

Fading when the morning comes too soon

I never knew the dark could stay

Or that it knew my name

I thought you were just a wolf's shadow

Till the night felt warmer when you came

The trail grows soft where my fear once stood

Paw prints crossing mine in the wood

You keep your distance, let me lead

Like you've always known what I'd need

The cold don't bite the way it did

When I hear your breath where the silence lived

And for the first time I don't feel chased

I feel… watched in a gentler way

I stop and wait beneath the stars

Ask the dark who you really are

If you're fear, then take your claim

If you're more, then speak my name

I thought you were just a wolf's shadow

Never meant to be real or near

But the way you linger in the hollow

Feels too steady to be fear

You don't fade when the night grows thin

You don't run when I slow

I thought you were just a wolf's shadow

But shadows don't love you so

You step from the dark, eyes soft and bright

Been walking with me every night

You say you've loved me from afar

Since I was just a restless heart

You didn't follow to take my ground

Just to make sure I was never alone

And in that moment I understand