For We Write Poems poetry prompt: Sometimes Something Surprising
http://wewritepoems.wordpress.com/
Shadow Pretend
Something like a shadow
is growing in corner behind
opened closet door. But,
only when that fixture
is open.
Otherwise it remains
each day the same,
without reach or movement,
as closed as that closure.
Somehow pretending,
as all shadows do, to be
something else other than
what it truly is.
Seeable only at a side-glance,
unaware of my awareness.
Wonder if it knows how its
slow increments of growth
are showing, easily defined
in direct daylight, causing
the closet door to be closed
with each coming night.
Elizabeth Crawford 6/8/11
Soul's Music 
Nice one – I love how you create such a full atmosphere – this takes a lot a skill. I really like this piece.
Thank you much, I think this might become one of my favorites,
Elizabeth
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Especially appreciate S3L1. Those things which are only visible in our perifery are most fascinating to me. Good stuff.
Thanks so much Ron, they have always been the same to me. And I often get told that I think too much because of it, lol.
Elizabeth
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A poem found in a shadow – a true poet can find a poem in anything. Well done, Elizabeth.
Sherry, I wasn’t too sure what to do with the prompt, but that first verse just sort of hung in the air until I decided to go with. I may have been more surprised than anyone, lol.
Elizabeth
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I like the eeriness created here, Elizabeth. Excellent!
Pamela
Wasn’t really intended as eeriness Pamela, but see how it could be interpreted that way. I am always curious about shadows. Thank you for visiting and wishing you luck with WordPress.
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth, a great response to the prompt. I love “Somehow pretending, / as all shadows do” – and where you take that idea, the play of light and dark, closed and open – and how light defines the shadow.
Richard
Glad you like it Richard. I am intrigued by the shadow aspect of the human psyche and the balance that must be found between dark and light. This prompt allowed me to play with that in words.
Elizabeth
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There really is something about shadows that is hard to capture, but you did a great job doing it here
Christy
Thank you Christy. I once wrote a poem about a shadow badger. Some of that essence seems to still be in the air.
Elizabeth
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Here we get trapped, looking for shadows from the corner of the eye. Did it move? Is it bigger? The closet door will be closed tonight.
Lol, Mike. It is every night.
Elizabeth
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Shadows are tricky and misleading. You’ve captured that thought, Elizabeth.
I agree Irene, maybe that’s why they are better seen in that sideglance fashion,
Elizabeth
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Shadows may be dark, but they’re interesting. Your poem piques that interest.
ViV
Thank goodness for shadows, or we might all be blind. Thanks Viv,
Elizabeth
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What I like thinking about is that shadows pretend to be something that they are not. So true. And a step further, my mind conjures that they DISAPPEAR when exposed as shams by light of day.
Mary, shadows have a great deal to teach us about really looking and actually seeing. And I agree, they do disappear so easily,
Elizabeth
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A giant ape lived in my closet, I kept the door closed each night. If I had to wake up to pee, I jumped as far from my bed as I could, to keep whatever lived under there from grabbing at my feet. Oh lord, did the night time play its tricks. Thank you for this piece, from shadow to being.
Brenda, wasn’t sure how this would come across. Two things were in my thoughts as I wrote it. The shadows that we experience as children, and the shadow aspect of the human psyche. The need for shadows to gain definition, and how they alter both feelings and perspective. It all kinda got a bit shadowy, lol. Thanks for the story, mine was an old old woman who wanted to pull me under the bed with her. Scary,
Elizabeth
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Oh Elizabeth, I loved –
“Somehow pretending,
as all shadows do, to be
something else other than
what it truly is.”
I am thinking of the personal ‘shadow’ and there is SO much truth in that! Food for much thought there.
Brilliant. 🙂
You nailed it Susannah, that was a big part of what I was trying to write about. Thanks for your words and glad you found the real shadow in this poem,
Elizabeth
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Delightful. So glad I didn’t have anyone “under my bed”! But for me it was the wall-hanging plant on the far living room wall clearly visible from my open bedroom door – and not just shadows, but the play of light and dark, but yes, of course, the shadows of imagination inside my thoughts. So there’s the drama of shadows, huh?
Light and dark – and shadows – could be a long essay, easily. (I like to think of shadows as nests of creativity, able to “become” anything.) (Yet like such possibilities, so much is in how we choose to hold the moment, huh?) But yea, two versions of truth in this world, how it really is (as god made it so), and how we imagine it to be. Nicely played in this poem Elizabeth.
Neil, you are always so supportive, such a good friend. I like to think of shadows in a very similar fashion. For me, they are the Wild Things that reside within us. Never truly domesticated and absolutely creative in constantly surprising ways. The little boy in your poem is one of them. I recognize him and always want to give him a hug, just because he is there. Thanks so much for reading and being so generous,
Elizabeth
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Lovely, as always 🙂
Thanks Tilly Bud. I wasn’t too sure about this one. Thought it was a bit edgy. But, glad you enjoyed,
Elizabeth
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So imaginative. I love how you dealt with that fleeting topic.
And I love your constant play on words. Thanks Madeleine,
Elizabeth
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