As I walk down an alleyway dimly lit
With music blaring in my ears, as I see fit
I stop for a second as I look at the ground below
And I see my shadow follow me, toe to toe
This makes me freeze on the spot
Pushes me into deep thought
As I ponder about how the dark brings out two of me
My thoughts, like a winged Griffin, take me to the decade gone by
And make me relive the lows and the highs
Perhaps the shadow behind my back is my past still lurking
Lurking behind me as I keep running
Running away from the past and its iron grip
Running before the past makes me trip
Blood on the hands, I now see blood on the hands
As the trailing shadow lights up in my mind and I see my old self in plain sight
I hear the chilling noises, of helplessness and sheer pain and hard fight
The eyes are pitch black and the tears stream down the face
A life was there to be saved, and I had failed in disgrace
The lights dim and the bloodstained hands fade away
As I stand still in the middle of this alleyway
The shadow returns and I’ve snapped back into reality
Perhaps the demons of my past will always follow me
And I can never wash my hands off the blood I’d sworn to protect
Perhaps I shall always be trapped in an alleyway, in a prisoner state of mind
For I cannot rewrite history—the mistake was mine.
Anupras Mohapatra is a former opinion editor for The Daily Cardinal and currently serves on the Editorial Board. He is a senior double majoring in Computer Science and Journalism.