The Shadow Behind You
That moment, spent. And another.
This goes on for hours,
days, metal pails filled with condensate,
emptied onto the parched soil
and sucked away within minutes.
What stares back at that precise second?
A void forms flesh, becomes a vessel
tumbled into the darkest rectangle,
leaving no evidence behind.
Our natures, revealed in absentia.
The dog barks at his reflection,
never thinking to examine himself,
while you stoop under the weight
of the tethered black, adjusting
your conscience, killing time.
* * *
“The Shadow Behind You” first appeared in Issue 125 of Right Hand Pointing. Thank you to editors Dale Wisely, Laura M. Kaminski, F. John Sharp and José Angel Araguz for taking this piece.
Beautiful writing, thanks for sharing.
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Thank you very much.
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“Our natures, revealed in absentia…” I understood better who my grandmother was when I walked up to her casket at a viewing. The shrunken body had so little to do with her spirit and personality that it became a negative image of her living presence.
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I’ve had the same feeling on multiple occasions.
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I’m thinking “adjusting conscience, killing time” is highly apt nomenclature for “living”…
Cool image! You out on your land?
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The parameters for adjusting consciences seem to waver quite a bit. 🙂 I found the image on morguefile.com. I used to have a similar one of me in the country, but lost it somehow.
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OK, I’ll just imagine that’s you …
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My shadow should be so thin!
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Our natures, revealed in abstenia…
That made me think maybe we do get to know people better after they’ve gone because we choose to remember every little detail about them, their actions and recall all those moments together so as to hold them closer. But memories can be revealing too.
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I certainly think more about certain people after their deaths than when they were alive, I suppose, in part, because I haven’t always realized how fragile our existences are.
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For that reason as well, Robert! It’s true that even with all the misfortune which can befall me, I tend more to have this feeling all will be overcome and I’ll remain strong. I realize that not everyone leans towards that feeling though.
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