Dream of the Shadow Puppet

A silent figure stalks the stage
The gambit made him all the rage
Critics rallied at the news of the naked truth on display
The shadow puppet conjures up an evocative pose
Cast on a weary sheet of linen
Tells a story everyone knows in their heart

A long time ago, when I was a younger man
I walked the road everyone goes on, the sun was sinking down
But the Queen of the Night, chose that evening to delight
A rapturous smell confounded my senses
Lulled me into a deep luminous sleep ...

... flashes like quicksilver
lucent arrows streak through glassy air
feather clouds skirt 'cross lofty sky
light transforms every blade of grass and
grain of sand into lambent metallic splendor
rainbow prism casting white light everywhere ...

As the backlight dims the shadow puppet sinks into the pale
The shadow people contemplate his phantasmagoric tale
Dancing with the Fairy Queen beneath the tie-dyed sky
For that brief moment emerged from shadow
To bask in quicksilver light ...
Only to fade once again

copyright ©2011 T. Atkinson