Shadow House

Shadow House

Down a rocky driveway camouflaged by the forest,

A shadow stretched from a house, the one that I lived in.

She gave birth to me on a cold, Winter day.

And raised me up in a shade of secrecy.

Innocent blue eyes and sandy blonde hair.

As a boy, I would gaze into the sincerity of their eyes.

Wanting to know if their intentions were real.

But feelings were numb, maybe I just needed a hug.

To feel something, because this emptiness did not suffice.

One day I thought, “maybe this isn’t real.”

These shapes, this grass, these skies...

It’s just a disguise for the reality I’m making

inside my head.

After a Summer rain shower,

I would lace up my rain boots and stand in a mud puddle.

I slowly sank a few inches into the earth, but it wasn’t enough.

I wanted to leave here. I knew there was a place beyond this.

And as I grew tall as a flower in Spring,

the confusion inside this house thickened.

The weeds loomed over me. Devastating.

They were nice, and then they were mean.

“Why are you hitting me!?”I cried.

“What are you doing with that knife under your bed?” She screamed.

“I was just carving a pumpkin, ma.”

“But Halloween is over. Take off the mask and be a normal boy!”

I answered, “But I cannot. This mask hides me from monsters 

like you and daddy.”

Our pumpkin patch grew high that Fall. I carved a face in them all to escape reality.

Glowing like the fire of a pyromaniac, my jack-o-lanterns lit the foggy streets.

Equipped with rain boots, mask, and cape, I walked to each neighbor’s house.

But a shadow stretched from that house, the one that I lived in.