Today I Let My Shadow Do All of the Work

A poem

Today I feel small.

Too much space for this aching body to fill up.

Today I let my shadow do all of the work, while my skin and bones hide in a corner to mourn.

She goes to the office and puts on a brave face; she takes a brief walk and smiles at the passersby.

At the end of her stint, she comes back home; her dark dress all wrinkled up and her hair carrying the city life vibes.

My shadow comes and finds me at the same spot where she dropped me last.

She sighs and goes to me; she wraps her arms around me and murmurs, “Hey, hey, I’m back…”

I let her hug me and allow my tears to bathe her see-through skin — time goes by until dusk settles and finds us trying to make a whole out of two empty ones.

It is true what the noisy neighbors say: we have nothing but these walls and the songs they contain; and yet, when it comes time to finally go to bed we envelop each other in tenderness and lovingly whisper the most wholesome, “Good night, sleep well.”