The shadow.

I had a shadow unlike any other. A thing to be cherished because it was always there unlike many others. I paid it no mind because it was supposed to be there. Day to day I lived my life while my shadow walked behind me watching and waiting to be noticed. When I fell down my shadow was there waiting for me to catch my fall. I gave no thanks or pat on the back because that's what it is there for. At times I would treat it like dirt because that's where it lived and it was only there because it had to.

Wherever I ran my shadow was always close by, happy or sad, good or bad always around in one shape or another. I started to grow fond of my shadow and in my youth it would speak and I would pretend not to listen. It was there when I wrestled and played baseball always close at hand. No matter the task I could glance behind me and there it would stand.

HOO YA NAVY! In the military I began to miss my shadow. Locked in a boat with no where to go my shadow was scarce because I hid from the light but I knew it was there waiting for me to return. In 2009 my shadow grew thin and pale. It wasn't always there now but I was there for it. After all it has done and what I failed to give in return it was my turn to catch it when it started to fail. My shadow was sick leakeing blood and tears as I cradled it. I couldn't see it like this and I cried like a babe. I could have been better to you and I know I should have dragging you around as I had my fun don't leave me now im done with my fun. My shadow reached out and wiped a tear from my face "I love you son and I am so proud".

I miss my shadow but just like before, it will always be there in some shape or form.

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Be gentle. This is the first time I have posted something I have written. I don't write very often.

Its very narrative, and you can tell that the narrator misses/love/cares for it. But it struck me personally as strange to refer to something loved as 'the shadow'. Maybe that's just a personal thing, but the word shadow creates darker imagery in my mind, with negative overtones. Nothing in the work seemed negative, maybe its just my perception of the word.

(05-06-2013, 03:15 AM)fourtimefelon Wrote:  Its very narrative, and you can tell that the narrator misses/love/cares for it. But it struck me personally as strange to refer to something loved as 'the shadow'. Maybe that's just a personal thing, but the word shadow creates darker imagery in my mind, with negative overtones. Nothing in the work seemed negative, maybe its just my perception of the word.

Its to show how the person was veiwed. Not specifically dark but give the image of a figure that is always present but not specifically noticed on a regular bassis. How many time s do you activly look at your shadow?

Hi Erenion,
Welcome to the site and congrats on being brave enough to post something for the first time, I was in the same situation a couple of weeks ago so I know what it feels like.
Your poem is very personal to you and it must of took some courage firstly to get write it and then secondly to post it on this forum.
It is very much a narrative, like fourtimefelon said but poems come in many guises. Because your poem is so personal to you I won't pick apart the actual details, there are a couple spelling errors but that's not such a big deal. I will say this however. In your response to fourtimefelon you ask the question "how many times do you actively look at your shadow?" and very thought provoking question which made me think about my actual shadow and a metaphorical shadow. But that one question got me thinking more than the poem in some ways. Perhaps that's the question you intended your poem to ask, but from reading it I did not get that impression.
Hope this makes sense and is of some use.
Thanks for the read.
AR

Thanks for the feed back. I will attempt to rewrite this in a way to provoke the thought that my question did. You were right, the original thought of the poem was to make you think about the things you take for granted and never know you would miss until they were gone.