Shadow Play

 

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.

He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;

And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—

Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;

For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,

And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.

He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play,

And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.

He stays so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see;

I’d think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,

I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;

But my lazy little shadow, like an errant sleepy-head,

Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

Source: The Golden Book of Poetry (1947)

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“Many years ago, when I used to be a salaried man – I had a small cubicle with a window overlooking a park. Every morning, a kid would prance up and down making funny gestures. Everyone thought he was crazy. This was quite a distance away. I was curious. So one morning, I decided to walk and see for myself what the fuss was all about - then it hit me, the kid was shadowing playing. And from the look of the people from the office window – I realized, they now saw two crazy people prancing up and down the pavement - they didn’t know, I didn’t tell them. Sometimes appearances can be deceptive, it always pays to reserve judgement till you have taken a closer look.”

Darkness 2012