Impermanent Shadows Poem by Abby Koning

a shadow
she said
that’s all we are
simply a pair of impermanent shadows

no, not merely that!
i exclaimed
certainly we are more
indeed, we must be
we must!

why
asked she
her eyes studying my indignant
face

because
we are alive
we deserve to be more than just that
than just
impermanent shadows

we deserve it
she questioned doubtfully
we don’t deserve anything

and her tiny hands
pressed against her tiny eyes
and when i tried to hold her
she turned away

look! i said. look!
i have hands
i have a heart
i have a mind
a will

you also have a shadow
she responded
and pointed to the ground behind
me
where a jagged dark blotch
defiled the ground

not if I step into the dark
said i
and to prove my point
stepped into an immense darkness
between two buildings

see!
i shouted in triumph
see! see!
no shadow!
and i smiled happily
thinking i had won

but she
shaking her magnificent head
fixed her eyes upon me
and moaned:

but don’t you see?
nothing has changed

but don’t you see?

now you are merely an even smaller part
of an even greater shadow…