SHADOW

It’s something that can’t ever

be fully under control,

something that’s always

just a moment away

from becoming everything

again,

something that can

quickly obliterate

all other considerations.

You know what I am saying?

Like a little shadow that grows

and grows

until it swallows the sun

and then there is nothing,

and the nothing continues

for days

and weeks

and months

and even years.

It really seems like forever.

And it is

A forever that is unforgiving

and without substance.

A forever that clings and reinstates itself

moment after moment.

Then,

through some as yet unexplained miracle,

I manage to get out from under it,

and there is sunlight again,

sunlight like this.

But still there is a shadow,

a shadow that threatens

to jump up and begin to grow again

at any minute,

a menace that can,

easily, suddenly and harshly,

once again

take away all the light

the light which goes away

so easily

the light

which is so hard

to bring back.