Shadow Lands

Thunder rolled across
The barren fields
Last night
Speaking but once
Then was silent.

But it was enough
To stir me
Enough to open my eyes
To the shadow lands
Playing upon the wall
And ceiling.

Strange
How thunder stirs the soul
Strange
How the mind travels time
Strange
Its deep reverberations
Strange
Its peculiar dance
In the shadow lands.

I listened for a second peal
But none followed
Except the thunder
Of memory.

Remembrance burst
Like the echo of storms
Upon stone canyons.

Sleep is impossible
When the shadow lands stir.
I buried my face in my pillow
And followed the traces
Of memory
Both kind and cruel.

The shadow lands are for
Visiting only.
No wise man would ever
Own property there.