Shadow People

The girl cowers in the corner
hands clutching an old and worn
but much loved copy
of the Torah
She is six
She is alone
No one comes to read to her
the stories of the Holy book
Years pass, still she is six
Others have begun to arrive
but they are shadows

She finds herself alone
among shadows in a dark place
confused, she wanders through
the dim corridors
She is twelve
She hears weeping
following the sound
she finds a child, huddled in on herself
weeping, alone and frightened
The child scrunches herself further into the corner
as she approaches
Gently she pulls the girl's hands apart
to see what it is she holds

The older girl awakens
in a world of shadows
frightened, she creeps silently
down the twisting pathways
passing strange shadow people
who cluster together
floating like ghosts
she hears voices ahead
and follows their sound
She comes to a pleasant clearing
and sees a girl of about twelve
holding in her lap
a girl of about six
She is reading to her
stories from the Torah

Together these three survivors
live out their lives
The twelve year old protects them,
as she protects their hostess
from any harm that may threaten
The older girl sits and silently watches
the younger girl as she sleeps
Sometimes the young girl gets frightened
runs and hides among the shadow people
which makes their hostess
shudder in misery with memory

The protector's services aren't required
for a number of years
and they all drift in slumber
among the shadow people
Their hostess lives her life
on the outside
she is twenty-six
and in love

She awakens from her slumber
sensing danger, she is instantly on guard
looks through her hostess' eyes
for the threat that she knows is near
sex is the threat, it has always meant
pain and humiliation
but she has always come forward
to shield her hostess from its ravages
She is confused, she can't see
but she can feel ... something
She comes forward now, a warning
when it goes unheeded, she comes again
a threat this time, serious, harsh
Making her hostess take notice

She is tired, wants to go back to her rest
reading the Torah to the child
as the older girl looks on
She has put in years of service
doing the dirty work for her hostess
keeping her safe, keeping her sane
but now, she wants it to be over
Her hostess wants it to be over too
but until now has been unaware
of the existence of others
within herself
she doesn't know why they are there
and they terrify her

Late at night she sits and talks
to a friend, another survivor
about the shadow people
who dwell inside her mind
during the conversation
The protector begins to talk to her
from inside
She shows her the inner world
her comrades
all born of abuse
all tired of the war
wounded soldiers
hiding among the shadow people
she hears, she sees
now she begins to understand
who these people are
where they came from
why they remain
and what their purpose is

in the morning she will go
and delve into the dark spaces
of her own mind
perhaps, in time, she will at last
be free of the shadow people
and the three inner survivors
will finally be at rest
life will go on
motherhood, work, friendships
and the walking wounded
will be healed at last
and the corridors are clear
of the wandering shadow people