I Am No Shadow Of A Man Poem by Ian Bowen

I am no shadow of a man
But my best friend darkness can
Hide the light that devastate
Mirrors that reflect no human trait.

I stake my heart on eternal lust
Sleeping boxed in my homeland dust.
When light becomes an extinction of the sun,
I will slide my lid, night has begun.

Rise cross at the crucifix, garlic hung doors.
Fever of life's thirst, naggingly gnaws.
Howl at the church, it's God and altar.
In my blood quest, I will never falter.

Ten handmaidens will now subserviently prepare
My red vest wardrobe, window-peaked hair.
I will look the part of a sleepless night.
Lord of all darkness, before morning bites.

Now I will fly in the face of red death.
Hover over, hear their final curdling breath.
Drink from your virgin daughters bare
Assuage my thirst, without a care.

Only moonlight shines on my domain,
Swooping in some secluded lane.
Caught like rabbits in the spotlight of my eyes.
White blood-starved neck, kissed, hangs and dies.

I am as swift as my hell-drawn stage,
Practiced by centuries, an endless age.
I crawl walls, watch you in your sleep
Poised, hissing, sinking deep.

But now the night is turning grey,
I will be no victim of the shinning ray.
I'll bat-wing fly to my castle keep,
As the innkeepers' family...wake and weep.