I
Where is my shadow?
I look behind me
&
see that it's 
ill-formed & indistinct.
And I wonder whether
it's 
the quality of the light, 
or
the quality of the me.


II
I read that Oraon shamans
study people's
shadows.
Fat-shadowed people 
are said to be 
ill-tempered,
stubborn,
& 
domineering
[but not necessarily 
fat-bodied.]


III
I heard tell of
a master of shadows.
It might not seem like 
much of an object
of mastery --
shadows being intangible,
but he always knew which way 
he was going
and where the world sat 
at the moment.
[And that's more
than can be said
of the rest of us.]
It was a simple skill
that most could not
be bothered to practice.
Everyone else's inability 
to find value in those 
dark angular patches
was his gain.