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Shadows

by Nick Anthony

I watch my shadow from noon to dusk,
Ever growing in size and lust,
Making me taller than a redwood tree
And stretching the limit of what I can be.

Until the fading sun falls all the way down
And I am beyond the starry lights of town.
Now lost and one with the black nothingness
I am left to mourn my colossal, black hubris.

I kick a stone as I walk home alone,
Struggling to forget the hope I was shown
And accept that I am an ego confined by flesh:
A spirit trapped, and a man depressed.

Thanks for reading. This was inspired by the opening paragraph of Chapter 15 in Nietzsche’s “The Birth of Tragedy” (though it doesn’t really have anything to do with the text).

If you want to read more by me, please take a look over at Rafiki’s Nikki, or click these links for some of my previous pieces on Poets Corner: Departures, Judgement Day, Polar Bears

Feel free to comment or message me any time!

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Posted on July 7, 2018 at 1:20 AM in Nick, Poetry   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL

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6 Comments to “Shadows”

    
  1. JPhantom
    July 7, 2018 at 1:57 AM

    Really like this poem! 🙂 Is the idea that you’re longing to be like the shadow? Outstretched?

    Reply
    • Nick Anthony
      July 7, 2018 at 3:08 AM

      Thank you very much. The general idea is that the man is attached to his shadow and foolishly believes he is the ever expanding potential, but he realizes that his shadow is only a temporary and false sense of power and pride. It’s not that the shadow is overstretched, it’s that no matter how big it is (no matter how great the man becomes) he exists in a nothingness and will eventually be consumed by it (how the seemingly colossal shadow simply ceases to exist among the shadow of night). It’s about the struggle to accept one’s facticity… BUT it’s art, which means how you interpret it is just as important to me 🙂

      Reply
  2. newrana
    July 7, 2018 at 3:03 AM

    So beautiful; so musical!! 🙂

    Reply
    

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