Shadows
By John Herlihy

Some say that shadows don’t say much at all,
Just dark images falling gloomily against the wall.
Shadows mimic movement from another world,
Shadows flutter furtively like a banner unfurled.
Ghosts resemble shadows wishing to be real,
Roaming haunted houses creating an unreal feel.

A shadow roams the corn field like a haunted cloud,
Darkening the sunlit day with its eerie shroud.
Is that a flock of ducks flying in formation overhead?
I notice a shadow that covers me in its sweep instead.
I see the great shadow of a mountain making an arc,
There goes a flighty shadow on the wings of a lark.

Half the earth lies in shadow with only half light;
The other half basks in light with only half shadow.
Ever wonder what makes the coming of day and night?
Ask the shadows that reflect off everything in sight.
The shadow world awakens with the coming of light;
The shadow world disappears with the coming of night.

Everything has shadow with murky waves like water,
But only when the sun shines and then like a squatter.
We are but flickering shadows aspiring to come true ,
Moving across the earth like clouds searching the blue.
We are but delicate shadows hoping to come alive,
To become flesh and blood with a will to survive.

We fly with wings on high with love’s shadowy kiss,
We pretend to feel happiness in the shadow of love’s bliss.
I see shadows of people with outstretched arms,
Shadows without faces, no lifelines on their palms.
I follow my own shadow that blends into the night,
Drawing all of its inspiration from the glow of moonlight.

Shadows strike us with terror in the absence of clear light,
More than a thousand soldiers bristling with all their might.
We ourselves are but shadows and we but shadows pursue,
Our shadowy hopes slip away, only misty dreams accrue.
I live in the shifting shadows, in a boat with no oar to row,
Hello shadow, now tell me something I don’t already know.