There was a silhouette in the dark that I could make out

Shrouded by the stillness of the forest

While I laid awake in bed, safe and sound

My eyes peeled to the double-arched window.

I could barely make out the shape of a man

Dressed in black, standing strong and tall

He seemed to be staring straight ahead

His face tipped towards my room's dim glow.

I should be nervous, or at most petrified

Calling someone, anyone, to ask for help

But every part of me is rooted to the spot

As if I am stuck in a precarious limbo.

He tilts his head towards the side, menacingly

Could he sense my probing gaze on him?

Does he realise I'm watching him watch me?

Is he a mere stranger or is he someone I know?

A harsh tug and the curtains fall into place

I'd rest unseen, my thoughts would stay hidden

Those fantasies that awaken in the dead of night

Lingering, lurking like a resounding echo.

Will he act them out and enter my house silently

Or have I created a game of make-believe?

Maybe all this is - is just my imagination

Maybe the man is simply an unwitting shadow.