English Literature – Poetry ☆ – ‘The Shadow’s Dirge…’ – ☆ Mr. Shivanand Pandey ☆

(Mr. Shivanand Pandey is an English educator and Master’s scholar with a deep passion for literature, storytelling, translation, and creative writing. Hailing from the culturally rich city of Lucknow, they draw inspiration from its artistic heritage. Their works span short stories, novels, and poetry.)

☆ ~ ‘The Shadow’s Dirge…’ ~ ☆ Mr. Shivanand Pandey ☆

(The First Prize winning entry in the Literary Warriors Group Contest. The subject of the contest was “परछाइयां” /Shadows”.)

☆

I walk where golden beams allow,

A slave to light, yet never seen,

No voice to break, no solemn vow,

No kingdom lost, no realm to glean.

*

I spill in length when evenings wane,

I crouch and fade ‘neath noon’s command,

Yet though I follow, mute, in vain,

He never seeks to understand.

*

I twist on walls like whispered sin,

Or pool beneath his weary tread,

No breath to lose, no bones within,

Yet tethered still, though long since dead.

*

I mock his gait in silent jest,

A mimic bound yet never whole,

His closest kin, his voiceless guest,

No weight to bear, no wandering soul.

*

At dawn I rise, by dusk I drown,

By starlit hush, I cease to be,

Yet when the night unchains the town,

Then he is lost—and I am free.

*

For in the dark, where none remain,

Where light has bled and time runs thin,

The world is mine to roam again,

And he, not I, is locked within.

☆