a long way to him here.
‘It is myself,’ he says, ‘my true nature
I have been trying so hard to avoid.’
It is a travelling shadow
blown larger by the mind.
It has been travelling
a long way to him, for him to know it;
but time and distance confuse. It has been
pressing, yes, its shadow on him
always.
Perhaps it is stationary, and he moving
dragging it behind him. Perhaps
it has always been here,
is meant to be here.
To imagine it is to answer it;
guarantees nothing. So outgrow this waiting,
this something missed.
Is it the shadow of something passed by,
an image retained on the retina,
as you drive on?
The road ahead so empty,
no surprises, so he plays with this,
a little mystery, wrapped round with newspapers,
sweet wrappers, unfinished resignation letters:
kept close, for company.
michael9murray 
Do you know Les Murray’s poem It Allows a Portrait In Line Scan?
https://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/murray-les/poems/it-allows-a-portrait-in-line-scan-at-fifteen-0560328
Hi, and no, I did not know the poem. I do now, though not the connection.
I was trying to tuned into the nameless dread or apprehension many feel, and come to some accommodation.
Just your use of “it” as the subject brought it to mind. I like your poem very much, and you share a promising surname fora poet.
Aha.
Yes, bit of a puzzle is that Les M and my ancestors came from the same small place, yet don’t seem to have related. Not that I can find, anyhow.
How long have you been in Australia?
When I was little I used to want to live there. Even now my older bro says it’s the place he’d rather live.
Our family has been here since the mid-1880s – escapees from the potato famine and Cornish tin miners hoping to find gold (nah). It definitely has its good side but I prefer a bit more European angst.
Shame about the gold – imagine the friends you’d have made!
As for the angst – a matter of careful what you wish for.
I suspect I’d find the place too hot these days.
Although we are enjoying La Nina at present. Which in Australia means a cooler wet summer…and floods, of course
At least no bush fires, then.