The Shadow

there i am
envelopped in chlorophyll
breathing in the sunlight
breath
by
breath
i watch a cloud whoosh past
and it pauses
to regress
i try to dodge it
but it's got me
it follows me
teasing me
i try to ignore it
try to breathe in the sunlight
it smothers me
i can breathe no more
it has cast a shadow over me
the chorophyll is now but a blur
diminishing

until

all that's before me
a blanket of smog
scum from the city
it's too dense;
i can't see
it's vapourous claws
reaching for me
trying
to obtain me
to retain me
in its dark clutches
my white flesh
my cherry trousers
i try to ignore it
turn my back
incongruously
exposing myself
to its lipidic appendages
contact was established
i cuff
i cuss

this cloud sails away
but the shadow's here to stay
there i am;
a shadow of my former self