Shadow Poem by Hardeep Sabharwal

SHADOW
All those legends of your liveliness and courage
Entered my bones like ants,
Forming an ant hill,
Like the lyrics of a newly-wedded girl’s bangles
Chanting day and night.
I don’t understand;
There must be some other words
That can decipher envy and love in sync.
The more I envied the more I loved,
The more I loved the more I envied.
You wanted what all parents wish for.
I failed,
And left it for some other day to discover,
When a friend told me
I should quit, Saying
I could be no more than a shadow
With you.
I can agree with those words.
But can a future shed its past,
And a shadow exist only when
There is light on the other side,
And there is nothing more magical in my life
Than the solace of your love?
So I went, but did not go..