The Shadow Makers

I recall I lay at the top of the hill

A toboggan, all set to go,

My friend behind, and urging me on

We’d had a good fall of snow,

I was lying flat, head first on that

When we hurtled on down the hill,

My friend was dragging his feet to steer,

He steered to a certain spill.

 

A clump of trees in the valley below,

I told him to steer out wide,

But he dragged his foot with his hob-nailed boot,

I knew we were going to collide,

The tree came up like a railway train

There were stars and I lay there still

A piece of branch was lodged in my brain

From the tree at the base of the hill.

 

They said I’d never survive, I know,

They said I’d surely be dead,

With a length of fir tree, covered in blood

And sticking right out of my head.

I was out of it for a month or more,

A coma of long lost time,

But finally woke in the hospital

To find I was almost blind.

 

All I could see were shadows, shades

That drifted in silent space,

These shadows all were as black as coal

And none of them had a face,

As if I was seeing a different world

To the one I’d always been in,

And one of them sidled on up to me,

‘You’re seeing the world of sin!’

 

I couldn’t see when the nurses came

But I heard them when they spoke,

A doctor came, said ‘it’s such a shame,

So sad for the little bloke!’

Three shadows were hanging on every word

As they lounged near the further wall,

And then I knew that they stuck like glue

For the Doc had done for them all!

 

They sent me home to recuperate

Sat out in an easy chair,

The garden looked like a negative

Of a black and white picture there,

My parents slowly came into view

But the shades stood out by the fence,

I’d always thought they were both sin free

But their sins were there, past tense.

 

My friend from the great toboggan spill

Came to visit me there to see

If I’d suspect that he’d steered direct,

Deliberately into the tree,

But a shadow hung at his shoulder there

And it gave his game away,

The shadow was mine, and over time

Will be there ‘til his dying day.

 

We’re all of us shadow makers when

We’re sinned against, done wrong,

We don’t have to be earth shakers, but

That sin will never be gone.

My sight has slowly recovered now

But I wonder, now I am back,

How many shadows are following me,

And when are they going to attack?

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Barbz]

Sometimes it takes a trauma, that causes us to see. The shadows of the ones we thought, would do no harm to we. These visions, that oft times, hide themselves from you, are often called upon, by something that we do. The ghosts are in your closet, they, are in mine too. We can't escape that ghastly drape, that clouds the truth from view! Barbz

[Cambion]

How excellent! As we have to come to expect from David Paget, this is a poem that leads you apace before you even know you're into it. There's a real sense of authenticity to this story, and a real message for us to learn. As an aside, the shadows that you speak of remind me a lot of ancient Japanese folklore and their kami lore. Kami are spirit entities that form to represent all sorts of interactions in nature, the realm of human habitation, and all walks of life. For example, if a person were to smash a jack-o-lantern, a kami would form representing the act. What sorts of mischief it would accomplish, who knows.

Thanks for the great read, Mr. Paget!

[R Smith]

an eerie tale David those shadows certainly are scary but in this poem they have become a mighty tale of wonder and entertainment, well done :)

[Marie]

Just as we have auras of light, I guess we have shadows of sin...

[Valentine]

A good write that reminded me of when my nephew had the same kind of an accident. He is an identical twin and when he hit and bust open his head... his twin up atop the hill screamed with pain. Come to find out, Larry could always feel when Jerry was hurt, but not vise versa. The family marveled at that. David, as always you come up with a terrific ending. Now I will be looking for shadows following me..Kathie

[MomzillaNC]

I found this a rather haunting write. The shadows hanging over our shoulders… Sins haunting us forevermore… This one is really rather thought-provoking. Everyone is haunted by the choices they make, those decisions made in the moment that play out for a lifetime.