My Shadow Friend
There is something there behind me.
I don’t know what it is.
I don’t know how it finds me.
I don’t know what it is.
It is there on sunny days now.
Not so much on cloudy days.
It disappears at noon somehow.
Then grows taller later in the day.
It never says a word to me.
It is a lot like a ghostly figure.
But, it is always following, see.
I got my gun and pulled the trigger.
It didn’t flinch, it didn’t die.
It followed me till I went inside.
I almost felt like I wanted to cry.
I wanted to be brave. I really tried.
I told my girlfriend why I was scared.
“You stupid jerk. That’s your shadow.”
She talked to me like I was impaired.
She upset me, and got me raddled.
Does a shadow cut you?
Does a shadow burn your feet?
Does a shadow try to choke you?
Does it bite you with its teeth?
She said I was talking crazy.
So I showed her all the marks.
She quietly said that maybe
I should go see Dr. Clark.
He is a Psychiatrist in town.
I have met with him before.
I know that he won’t put me down.
He will help me, I am sure.
He said a shadow would not hurt me.
Only something evil would do that.
He said he would issue a decree.
For all the evil to stand back.
When I went outside the ‘figure’ was gone.
My friendly shadow was back again.
I am glad it is back after so long.
Because my shadow is my friend.
————————–R.W. Johnson—–(2017)