Shadowless - Visitor's Poem

by Nozipho 'zeepoet' Madlala
(South Africa)

He lost his shadow,
His loyal companion walked away.
Abandonment engraved in his path,
He tracks alone on a sunny day.

He is the man whose shadow escaped;
His loneliness mocked by each rising sun.
The street is full of people, out and about,
But search for those without shadows, he's the only one.

Shadowless man, the one whose shadow escaped
To be with another in need of a friend.
With nothing but his freedom, a victim of solitude,
The road is long, without his shadow, it has no end.

I saw his shadow today, walking by my side;
Took the place of my shadow for a moment or two.
Dark stranger chased my shadow away
Leaving me behind to walk shadowless too.

We're both alone, the man and I;
He walks by my side and I by his.
A shadow of my shadow, he keeps me close;
Together we march in shadowless bliss.

His shadow returned to take my place;
Alone again, I cannot stay.
I am but a lonely shadow in the eyes of the man
As I walk away to live another shadowless day.