My Elusive Pal

On sunny days we are a pair

But if it’s dull my pal’s not there

Sometimes he’s short and sometimes long

Sometimes he’s weak and sometimes strong

Though my pace be fast or slow

He follows me where’re I go

He’s at my side on country walks

Though always silent, never talks

I never see my pal at night

But only when the day is bright

Some days he’s never by my side

Is he hiding, has he died?

He can be black and can be grey

Though he was mostly grey today

His monochrome could not be duller

Could he not appear in colour?

By now the reader surely knows

My pal revealed as just shadows!