Lukpata Lomba Joseph

Lukpata Lomba Joseph

is Nigerian. He currently resides in Port Harcourt. His work has appeared in some journals/magazines including Jacar Press’s One, Misfit Magazine, South Florida Poetry Journal, Squawk Back Journal, The Collidescope and elsewhere. He is a Best of the Net nominee.

An Essay on Shadow

“Between the idea and reality, between
          the motion and the act falls the shadow…”—T.S. Eliot.

Shadow as expression
of love by desert birds
flying past a lagoon.

Shadow as homage
of riverside plants
to crystal water.

Shadow as communion
of the sun, moon & earth.

Shadow as all
to what isn’t; shadow
as twin part to what is.

Shadow as ghosts
that mimic footsteps
in dark hallways
on eerie nights.

Shadow as exact opposite;
shadow as doppelganger.

Shadow as trespass
on light’s road; shadow
as obstruction of reason.

Shadow as distortion
of logic; shadow as lacuna
between love & feeling.

It is the shadow that lurks behind
in the morning, strolls to meet us
in the evening;
it is the shadow that speaks tall
in the morning, censors its height
at noon; it is the shadow
that claims everyone is dark.
Shadow is the flesh of all gone
memories; shadow is what is but isn’t.