Shadows (Not Invisible)

Shadows of those obscure along the way

Darkened by the shades of moving shadows

Who glance, but never stay.

Shadows cast upon shadows lost,

Shadows of a colorless world,

when caring simply moves away,

When compassion, empathy and love

Never brighten desperate days

Or lift a longing dream of those

Imprisoned, invisible in their shadows.

Like brittle leaves, tossed and trapped

In the migration of their despair

Confined in their isolation at the foot of walls,

Or depths of rivers,

That attempt to keep the crushing humanity

At the borders of their dreams,

The human voice cries

The human spirit goes unnoticed

By those who never notice.

A voice is heard from the shadows,

Chanting through the darkness -

We are here! 

We’re not invisible!

Open your heart and see!

We are right here! 

The shadows of silent words cover them,

Like warmless blankets

As we walk by and they go unnoticed.

As if speaking to our better angels in the dark silence, they speak

From a deeper darkness to tell us,

“We’re not invisible.”

“We’re not invisible!”

“We’re not invisible!”

We need your light to find us in the dark.

The troubled minds, the wounded lives, the pain they hold,

 All wonder “Is life worth living?”

When there is no healing touch, a loving heart, a hand to hold

As we go unnoticed in the shadows.

We cannot walk by them, unnoticed in the shadows,

As from the dark they cry

“We’re not invisible..

The Shadow of uncaring

The darkness of unloving hearts

The coldness of generosity.

The silence of insensitivity

The indifference of intolerance

The blindness of the eye

The narrow hardness of the mind

The misunderstanding that rejects those who are different,

As they find the courage to reveal who they are,

Change who they are,

As they struggle to not be invisible.

Just hear the voice!  Stop and listen.

Turn toward the darkness

With the light you have to share.

Don’t let love be invisible.

Be a visible me!

A light for those within the shadows

Love and Light for all to see.

So that even in the darkest of their days

We can say,

“We’re Not Invisible.

We are here!

We see your life

We touch your life

We will not be invisible with our love.

Ronald W. Cadmus 

© 2023