Perhaps it's the shadow that walks beside us

The after image of ourselves

Following, when we have forgotten how to move

Perhaps it's an answering echo

As time folds and unfolds

As stars flicker with faulty wiring

And the universe refuses to answer

People pass through us, blurred at their edges

Dissolving to static

With us only half there

To them

Yet, beneath

Armoured in only a heartbeat and the power of will

A thread of who we really are

Pulses with pride

We pull it tight, holding our broken pieces together

And we are reminded

We exist

As we are so often unmade

We are our own warriors

This is my entry in the Poetry profile's Versification 2026 contest, day 11! The prompt was Pride - 'What is the use of pride?'