Variations

• Benjamin Clark, Grade 10
• Poetry
• 2013

I am suddenly a phantom, a wayward ghost drifting in the winds of life. The air around me wavers with insubstantiality and bleak emptiness. Do you know me? Of course. I am there in the dreams that you forget when you wake, trying to grasp at scenes of a broken reel. I am there when you shiver in the bright summer sun, when you feel someone behind you unseen. I am the victory gladly accepted by the desperate betwixt the horrors and tainted blood of war. That is me. Befriend me at your own will, take what you want from me for I will take mine. In reality aren't we all just phantoms, hiding in the dreams of the world just as I take refuge in such dreams.

I now walk with the dead, a casualty in the war I once knew. My face is sunken with weary discipline reflected in my raven black eyes. Do you know me? Of course. I am there in your nightmares, when you wake dripping with sweat and shivering in stoical fear. I am there when you feel your stomach drop, anxiety taking its intimidating grip. I am the victory obtained through hardship, a result of dark strategy and harsh leadership. That is me. Do not ask me of your life for that I can't assure. In the end, you are all just prisoners in this world, as I am held captive in the dreams of the world.