Leave me, the way my shadow leaves me

As the last light evaporates from my day
I release my weary shadow
from its responsibilities, and allow
it to wander freely
To entertain itself in the inky
anonymity of darkness.
I wonder where it goes
without me.

Does it dance
under the streetlamps
like a Broadway silhouette,
Or skim the endless waves
as they crash unseen on the beach.

Does it commiserate with other shadows
sharing stories of daily drudgery,
Drinking up the blackness of night
in an attempt to forget, temporarily
about the harshness of light
that threatens to extinguish
its exquisite mimicry,
every motion captured flawlessly.

Honestly, I don’t even know
what motivates it to follow me.
Does it resent being constantly
dragged behind my every
whim, with no voice, no agency,
it’s grievances never weighed properly? Or does it take genuine interest in me?
This assignment some sacred duty.
Is it an agent of the night, spying behind me
to ensure the devious designs of daylight
don’t encroach upon the precious evening?

Is it just an absence of light,
or is light an absence of it?
And does it consider all of this,
it’s place in this world,
the concerns that we are so obsessed with
in the daytime?

When my brain doesn’t keep me
from my dreams with the concerns
of my own daily emergencies,
It stays up inventing reasons to prevent me
from sinking into the emptiness
of sleep. Fearful for what awaits me
in the darkest back alleys
of my mind,
Waiting for their opportunity to ambush me
without the burden of rationality,
without the balance of light and dark
that hinders their ability
to orchestrate the instability
that plagues this warped reality.

I stare through my closed eyelids
awaiting some epiphany,
anything to settle my mind,
it doesn’t need to be a resolution,
or even hold up to scrutiny,
just anything, to release me
to dream’s custody,
the way my shadow releases me.

– Leave me, the way my shadow leaves me © Mike Chernoff 11/05/2023