Shadows

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I wrote this passage in prison August 22, 2023
I have many great memories of shadows. As a kid I liked to watch my own shadow as the sun began to set, because it looked like the silhouette of a thin giant. Shadows could look like scary things in the dim light, then they could look like a duck or a wolf if I made the right shape with my hands.

At this young age it was hard to understand that shadows are not made of anything. It seemed like they were made of shadow ink, not areas of relatively less light. As I spent warm summer days sitting in the shade of a big maple tree, the shadow felt cool, and no one could tell me that was an illusion.

There are shadows in my life now, pieces that have been missing so long they leave a cold spot where they used to be. Years go by in prison and the landscape of my mind changes. Then light may come from a new source and suddenly I laugh, because after all this time I still get fooled by shadows.

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