Shadows

SHADOWS

What is it with you, oh shadows?,

Why are you so underrated when,

You're the most important?

Why aren't we learning from you?

For you hold the keys 

To triumph,

To redemption,

To art and salvation,

And to all the glowing parts of creation;

You, oh shadows!, you are the other half of our identities,

For there are no complete sins or proprieties;

Your presence reminds us of what we might become,

If we forgot to face the light, putting you behind;

You engulf us in the absence of light,

Showing us,

The stark reality of how miserable everything is,

Showing us, how viciously vile the world can be,

And how ignorant we are,

By shutting ourselves out of the true colors,

By blinding us with light, that fools us into beauty and hope;

I'm sure you're aware,

Of how important your enemy is,

To all of us, and that's why you decided to lie behind us,

Showing yourself up, only when we really need to see you;

I now see why you're there at every sad story,

Every miserable moment in our memory,

Every bad day and all those sleepless nights;

You creep around through every corner

And seep deep through every second of time passing;

We can face you only when we're ready and confused,

Trying to find meaning and order in the shabbiness of life;

You show us our dark sides like a mirror, making us realize,

Our own evil forms, the ones,

To be defeated;

You shock us with the truth, which,

We thought would be found elsewhere;

"In filth it shall be found", said great men,

And I see it all now;

You are as important as to how the wood is to the fire in a matchstick;

Sacrificing itself for the glow, and coming back dark in your true form,

As smoke;

Without you there's no light for us,

To bask and celebrate on,

Without you there's no warmth for us,

To comfort ourselves, for luxury and dawn;

I see it all,

No one can emerge as a leader,

Without facing you,

No one has emerged as a king before,

And no one shall rule without your grant,

You show us who we are, despite our rant;

You are worthy and important, in the balance of creation,

For you hold the keys

To triumph,

To redemption,

To art and salvation,

And to all the glowing parts of this creation.  

                              - Arun Krishna G