Shadowland

I came to see the flower stands, the vegetables, the cigarettes

the subway station bucket man, the headphones and the heat

I thought that I might try again, the living and the breathing

but the living and the breathing don't come easy

I used to be a waste of time, an empty bottle lying down

a trap door with the latches gone, hanging by a hinge

Now I guess I'm something else, a raven on an overpass

a wanderer, a silver ghost, a beacon

Before, I saw it everywhere, in car windows, the guarded stare

the hollow eyes, the hunted fear, I had to look away

I thought that I might lose my breath, the living and the coming death

the living and the aftermath, the fade

I used to be a waste of time, a burning match lit underground

a figure in the shadowland , a feather in a cage

Now I hope I'm something else, a blinding flash, a fragment spell

a bird released from some old bell, escaping