Shadows of our former selves
wait for us at the turnings of conversations
in cul-de-sacs where there is no turning
in lies told, half-told and left unsaid,
in faces from the other lives we’ve led.
Shadows of our former selves
are Grimm creatures with invisibility cloaks
that they sweep aside in times of crisis
and as their haunting forms are brought to light
they change transparent day to doubtful night.
Shadows of our former selves
are not our friends but they can be disarmed.
The beam of present truth is hard and bright
and shadows shrink away in such a light.
Janice Windle
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ups-and-downs-collection-shadows-of-our-former-selves/
