Shadow | Teen Ink

Shadow

July 8, 2012
By hippiechick99 GOLD, Mesquite, Texas
hippiechick99 GOLD, Mesquite, Texas
11 articles 0 photos 224 comments

Favorite Quote:
"... How dreary to be somebody-- How public like a frog;
To tell one's name; the livelong June-- To an admiring bog"
-Emily Dickinson


I am a shadow
A silhouette of what was
Not what is
I am not a beam of light
I am a shadow
A shadow of who lived before me
Of who died before me
A gray nothing
Just a gray, gray nothing...
All who light up my world will be sucked into my vortex
The vortex I created
I could be light...
Maybe, if I really tried
Or maybe not
I am simply me
A gray shape with unsure lines
Following anything blocking the light
It's not like I have a choice...
Do I even have a conscience?
I feel unsubstantial
I only wish to be that which I am not
No one can love something that was never really there
Sure, you could try
Try and try and try and try...
Try as you may, I'm a lost cause
A gray blob slowly getting blacker... Blacker
Black.
Watch me be me
Watch me be nothing
Watch me be different
Watch me...
Watch me be a shadow
For that's what I am
What I have become
I could either be light or dark
Spotlight or shadow
Day or night
Black or white
Only... I'm not
I'm the silver lining
The shadow that creates shadows
Not bad, not good
Not mean, not sweet
I am nothing
Nothing...
And proud of it.


The author's comments:
This was inspired by something one of my best friends said. How we're both so different than the stereo-type. But we love it. We love being invisible. Being nothing isn't that bad. Happy nobody, or sad somebody. Your pick :)

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This article has 4 comments.


on Sep. 8 2013 at 1:58 pm
Rubythegem PLATINUM, Fayetteville, Arkansas
31 articles 0 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing."
-Socrates

Wow! Great poem.  You use the shadow metaphor so well.

so_joy SILVER said...
on Aug. 19 2012 at 4:15 pm
so_joy SILVER, Navesink, New Jersey
8 articles 0 photos 722 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be the change you want to see."

I love this! Fantastic work! Please read,rate,and comment on my poems! Thanks!

on Jul. 25 2012 at 7:13 am
hippiechick99 GOLD, Mesquite, Texas
11 articles 0 photos 224 comments

Favorite Quote:
"... How dreary to be somebody-- How public like a frog;
To tell one's name; the livelong June-- To an admiring bog"
-Emily Dickinson

It is a bit depressing, but the ending isn't. It's kinda like the poem by Emily Dickinson, "I am nobody, who are you?" But at the end of the poem she establishes that she'd rather be a happy nobody then an unhappy somebody. I feel like that sometimes. To be known or to be happy, it a big choice. I didn't really intend for this poem to come out the way it did... but thanks for reading, it's appretciated :)))

on Jul. 24 2012 at 7:49 pm
CaptainStar BRONZE, Estancia, New Mexico
2 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
Your limit is what you make it.

Your writing is very impressive, but I've gotta say that it's a bit depressing.  But keep up the good work! :)