turn on, turn off, roll down the blinds

roll up the blinds – a boy has become a man,

with time rolling across the sand;

crest, subsides, wails and lashes

but the man holds fast to memories of a boy

grasping at a controller, eyes glued to the television screen

while it gets kicked away … … crawls after the game toy

as it slowly disintegrates: off, on, light and darkness

his shadow flees, hears and wrestles with void expanding,

his body falls limply, silenced out

with footsteps pacing erratically, eager to find a heartbeat

hears none. fingers clutch about,

throat hoarse, eyes burning from weeping,

over a shadow that has slowly

become menacing, no longer keeping up with movements

a toy, a crutch, a low frown

bemusement?

then a faint laughter; a chill, a warmth

a heart beat not his. a man wrestles with a shadow

lurking by the curtains – playing with movements, like the wind

vanishes. comes and goes

while time rolls back;

sneezes; yawns

widely. the mouth of a cave

drinking up light;

a wall surfaces; a man fiddles with a controller;

no longer having any purpose. wide eyed; stutters

when the shadow mimics his movement;

and yet it is not him. he knows that. feels it.

heart beats not his: whose?

time wobbles, shifts, an integration of light and darkness

till a blend forms – and one shadow becomes human.