Let me step from city shadows,
Tip my hat and shake your hand.
You might not notice, walking by,
But, friend, I know this tangled land.
My voice has echoed through these streets
In laughter, solace, secret cries –
I find my place in crowded bars,
In whispered deals and hopeful lies.
I watched the ink dry on your rules,
Saw treaties signed with trembling pens;
I lent a listening, patient ear
When peace gave way to war again.
In silent offices, neon-lit,
I pass for just another face –
A stranger bearing half a smile
And carrying a briefcase.
Over years I’ve learned your customs,
Broke bread at celebrations, too;
I read the prayers in stone cathedrals,
And wiped my shoes as humans do.
Beside you on the empty train,
I’ve heard you sigh for fractured dreams;
I tip the waitress, chat with friends,
Disguised in threads and worn-out jeans.
History’s pulse beats in my chest,
I watched as empires came and fell.
I know the hunger kings conceal –
The price for power’s cruel spell.
In parliaments and dusty courts
I lingered, silent, by the doors;
I watched decisions toss your hearts
Like flotsam to forgotten shores.
You ask my name with half a grin,
While sunlight flickers through my glass;
But what intrigues you most, my dear,
Is why old devils ever pass.
Are we the darkness in your crowd,
Or truth that walks without its mask?
Perhaps a friend who knows too much –
Or just a shadow when you ask.
I’ve worn the uniforms of peace,
And marched in protest’s angry flame;
I cheered for justice in the square,
And played the trickster’s clever game.
I watched invention’s glory rise,
And rumour spoil a noble name –
Behind each door, a thousand tales
To testify we are the same.
I’ve wandered marketplaces at dawn,
And knelt in candle-lit despair;
I’ve seen the good men lose their nerve
And tyrants learn the weight they bear.
I’m there in stories that you tell
Of sudden loss or strange reprieve –
Sometimes the whisper in your ear
When nighttime bids you not believe.
So meet me here beneath the lights,
Among the laughter and the smoke;
I’ll offer nothing but a truth
Dressed loosely, softened by a joke.
I’m neither monster nor your friend,
But simply born from what you make –
A byproduct, a needed guest,
A mirror, clear for your own sake.
Go on, address me as you wish –
A tempter, fiend, or idle thought;
But if you strip your soul quite bare,
You’ll find the name you always sought.
For I am woven in your thread,
And walk beside you, shy and tame;
No grand deception, just a man
Who plays a slightly different game.
Now if you see me – smile, nod;
I’ll tip my brim in cool respect.
Remember, devils walk with men
And rarely get the things you’d expect.
Have sympathy, lend me your ear –
Polite and brief, we share this time;
For you and I, we share this road,
And every sin has lost its rhyme.
