He exists just before dawn
Submitting at my feet
His shadowed eyes cast downward
(Where the rest of him lives)
And he is silent

He never speaks aloud
Sinewy limbs stretch languidly
Wrapping around corners
Hanging from street lamps as if
He can cling to them

There are no words between
Us and there is no conceding because weakness
Is a shame to his honor and pride
And he will not exist thusly

Fluid footsteps fall and
Rise against the pavement's surface
And he is forever here
In this hour (only the darkest)
Before the dawn bursts

When the sunlight radiates
Exploding viably over the horizon
Illuminating all secrets
Shadows kept locked away in closets
Skeletons exposed to light

He fades away in silence
Never a word, never a sound uttered
For he truly is a warrior
The sunlight pierces through him
An existence corroded away

Those emphatic eyes obscured
By the light of day are the last To surrender to defeat
And they stare at me, into me
Fixated upon the secret of my flesh

Peering up from a cement grave
These eyes are enlightened
And before he goes
There is a smirk on a non-existent Face that leaves me stunned

He understands, this shadow of mine
What our positions truly are
For in this world
This decaying overlooked jungle of Ours, he is forever better off

As much as he is part of me
Subsisting in this mockery of life
And abiding by society
He is free
Free to escape from this each day

He is not an unfortunate prisoner
Kept captive and sparsely
Released to breathe and wander
Rather he is bound
Forced to enter our world from his

And I do not pity him
What I have seen within the depths
Of his cold shadow eyes
Have brought me to the brink of Understanding this

I cannot, will not pity him
My shadow has understood
That we are hopeless and bitter Something he is not
Because where he lives is beautiful

His world is superior to ours
With it's shadow columns
And buildings made of heartless Marble rows and doors
Where the sun never has to work

Without the daily grind
Absent is the constant rush of time
Free of the weight of the world
Where everyone is gentle
And mankind never mastered cruelty

This shadow returns there
Leaving behind our imperfections
Existing throughout the day
Openly breathing the air
Aware of what we can't ever attain

He has taken naught back
To his world of subtle darkness
Though he has learned of the myriad
Of behaviors men exert
He rejects them in the name of

Himself