I saw the man by the river
what man
He was the man with no shadow
dead man 

He moved like fog up the sidewalk
walking
I heard a noise at the window
knocking

I saw his eyes in the window
red eyes
his eyes, they were hollow
dead eyes

And then he flowed through the doorway
cursed mist
Then my arm, he was touching 
foul fist

taken by fear I could not move
frozen
then his word it was spoken
“chosen”

I gazed at his face
eyes trapped
I felt my soul leave my body
life snapped

We were two men by the river
What men
we were the men with no shadow
dead men

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David Newkirk is a retired attorney. He is currently in the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, where he is actively unlearning thirty years of writing like a lawyer.

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