• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Poetry Catalog

We honor great poets. We honor great poetry.

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Submit Your Work
  • Writers
  • Advertising / Subscription

My Bestial Shadow, By: Harold Akomolafe

August 8, 2024 by Harold Akomolafe

My Bestial Shadow, By: Harold Akomolafe

Pacing through an all-beloved forest,
rendered nonplussed by my failure to recognise its beauty,
I wandered through the labyrinth in perplexity,
until I stumbled upon this creature.

It was neither pretty nor ugly,
It was neither perfect nor imperfect,
It was either a daydream craft or a beast.
I had apparently stumbled upon my reflection.

Transfixed by this scaringly solemn discovery,
fixated on how such a thing could be,
my mind became dazzled by an immeasurable plethora of fragments of images,
trying to solve the mysterious puzzle of this being.

It had a structure my great mind could not quite fathom.
Its eyes spoke volumes to me that resonated with my own being.
It had a glaringly frightened posture, that felt welcoming to me.
And so I found myself dissolved in the science of this creature.

Then suddenly it rose, fuming, as fiery as Hell flames,
I felt as though it broke out in despair,
enraged by the presence of a human, me.
And that amplified the sense of reflection I received from the creature.

The single thing which restricted me from attempting a propitiation,
was the relatability of this creature.
Our connection, the preternatural similarities we bore,
they far outweighed our visible differences.

Empathy descended upon me.
It taught me to leave the creature be,
because I shared its pure abhorrence of the human being.
So I left it be

and ventured back into my world,
a world stained by the existence of 8 billion humans.
Usual loathing proceeded this return,
and I held my own hand in consolation and anguish.

Share this:

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Related

Filed Under: Poems

Get Every Post In Your Inbox 😳

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
(This is not the newsletter.)

Primary Sidebar

Never Miss A Poem (Newsletter)

Be Social

  • X
  • Facebook

Top Posts & Pages

  • On The Power Of Sound, By: William Wordsworth
    On The Power Of Sound, By: William Wordsworth
  • Poetry Submission Deadlines April 2026: Contests, Prizes & Magazines Closing This Month
    Poetry Submission Deadlines April 2026: Contests, Prizes & Magazines Closing This Month
  • Devotional Incitements, By: William Wordsworth
    Devotional Incitements, By: William Wordsworth
  • Steamboats, Viaducts, And Railways, By: William Wordsworth
    Steamboats, Viaducts, And Railways, By: William Wordsworth
  • Capturing Summer, By: Mary Bone
    Capturing Summer, By: Mary Bone
  • Toothbrush, By: Melinda Tauler
    Toothbrush, By: Melinda Tauler
  • School Room Blues, By: Michael Feil
    School Room Blues, By: Michael Feil
  • The World's Lover, By: G.K. Chesterton
    The World's Lover, By: G.K. Chesterton
  • Doors Of Opportunity, By: Andrew Cyr
    Doors Of Opportunity, By: Andrew Cyr
  • Decay Of Piety, By: William Wordsworth
    Decay Of Piety, By: William Wordsworth

Advertising/Subscribing = Loving

Buy Me A Coffee

Sign up for the newsletter. Get a gift.

Footer

Made with ❤ in Lubbock, TX.

Poetry Catalog Sponsors

Haiku Examples

Search

Copyright © 2026 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in