Shadowland

I came to see the flower stands, the vegetables, the cigarettes The subway station bucket man, the headphones and the heat I thought that I might try again, the living and the breathing But the living and the breathing don't come easy I used to be a waste of time, an empty bottle lying down A trap door with the latches gone, hanging by a hinge Now I guess I'm something else, a raven on an overpass A wanderer, a silver ghost, a beacon Before, I saw it everywhere, in car windows, the guarded stare The hollow eyes, the hunted fear, I had to look away I thought that I might lose my breath, the living and the coming death The living and the aftermath, the fade I used to be a waste of time, a burning match lit underground A figure in the shadowland , a feather in a cage Now I hope I’m something else, a blinding flash, a fragment spell A bird released from some old bell, escaping