Nemesis
You shut me in an ivory tower
From ten to twenty-three.
I was a wide-eyed child.
But I saw the wind elbow its way across the sky,
And heard the mossy grumbles of the oak and birch.
Saw the darkling shadows
With their clammy, grasping touch-
And knew them all by name.
So you locked me in my tower.
It was for my own good-
Or so you told me.
But no fair prince came riding to my rescue,
Triumphant from the fiery horizon.
Having vanquished the sunrise
And tamed the shadows
To his hand.
And I
Grew older.
Grew wiser, in my tower.
Now I walk among you
And watch the shadows feed.
Now I say nothing.
And the shadows reach out for you...
Murky fingers brush your soul...
And still
I say nothing.
Copyright Elisabeth Hegerat, 1998
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