The Long Shadow

Even as minutes turn to days

then years

sometimes the shadows cast

by the things that happen to us

stay dark, weigh heavy

seemingly impervious

to any glimmer of life’s light.

The funny thing is,

though

is that shadows have no substance

and though we perceive them

with our mind’s eye

they aren’t really there

and if we stop giving them a form

they don’t really have

then we go from fettered to free

and can bask in the warmth of life

at last.