Inspired by C. Milosv
“What has no shadow has no strength to live.”
Strength is forgiving and saying
There was nothing to forgive.
The shadow is the most needed
Impermissible thing.
I see trees and flowers bask in sunlight,
In a one frame beautiful world
But as day retreats I begin to fear
That all shadows will crouch, then appear.
Without the shadow,
We only grow thin skin.
Shadow is where the dark disappears
It harbors the light within
Does a wrestler with their conscience,
Or a worrier become a good person?
The shadow is the most needed
Of impermissible things,
I say to wrestle is a good thing.
For strength to thrive
Something has to die.
We’ll place goodness
And best intentions
As its casualties
That lie. Once deceased
The darkness may encroach.
Our lack of understanding
Makes experience crass and gross.
Yet know, Dark away from good
Is holy, it is essential to
Our growth.
I’ve screamed and isolated
Shadow held the door
It tried to intimidate me
I hated myself only more.
The shadow permitted me in.
The shadow is the most needed
Impermissible thing
For strength to die
Is the impossible thing.
If you ignore the fact that
You have everything,
No shadow can hold you up.
A witness to your life
It’s sanctity, sacrifice
Is the shadow’s thing of things.
It is the witness to the very thing
The light won’t shine upon.
Empathy is Poetry 