The Shape Of What Is Real Poem by Biyaya YOHANNA

Sometimes,
all it takes is meeting
the false version of the real
to finally understand
what the real truly is.

The false
becomes a mirror,
showing you
what you once thought
was real.

A borrowed light
may shine for a while,
but time has a way
of dimming what was never
truly lit.

And when you finally meet
the real,
you recognize it differently.

You hold it closer,
because you have learned
the difference
between a shadow
and something
that can stand in the light.

Perhaps that is
what time does best:

It quietly pulls back
the curtain,
and leaves you
with what was real
all along.