Shadow Poem by Prabhakar Subramaniam

We hoped no shadow

Would darken the day

When the feet had found the way

Back to where our hearts lay

Yet in the shrine

Only the shadow remained

The head bowing all the same

Saw behind the closed eyes, ripples of emptiness

Soon swelling into an orange oblivion

Someone said there can be no darkness

Only various shades of night

From moonliness to moonlessness

And all one had to do was wait

Before it would be first light

When the search could begin again

For the new god who rejected all gods.