Once I tried to give away my shadow.
It wasn’t easy. More like downright terrifying.
I was launching my new book,
Putting Your Best Foot Forward:
a PR Guide to Life™ Suddenly I saw that my foot wasn’t the problem.
It was my shadow.
Such a mouth it had. Always with a snappy comebacks
Always with the opinions,
Always with the surprises.
It was time to move it along,
and so I started low.to the earth
with Groundhog, squatting at his burrow door.
(He was known to be cranky this time of year so I whispered).
You can use my shadow as a backup,
I gently suggested.
You might be more predictable,
He curled his lip and bared his incisors
I’ve got enough shadow
worries on my own without yours,
he snarled, And besides, It won’t fit!
Plan A (The Giveaway) was out.
Plan B (Direct Persuasion) was in.
Moon Shadows are kinder than Day Shadows, and so we met under a full moon.
Thank you so much for your service,.
Perhaps retirement might suit you, I suggested.,
I kept the argument civil, logical,
Sensitive to its needs.
But the nicer I was the nastier the response.
until I noticed my collar getting very hot,
and I heard myself saying
Okay then, I’m done trying to figure this out.
Let me make it clear: I don’t need you anymore.
And what if I refuse? It asked,
After that there were no other words,
only a dark pressure in my midnight mind,
a burrowing into my chest,
a sense of something crouching
Somewhere deep and out of reach.
And so I guess it’s the two of us now,
and I know that I will never see
the dance we do together, my shadow and me.
