Shadow Go Lightly

February 24, 2026

Retirement Day #2342

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

And what can be the use of her is more than I can see.

She is not like me at all from her wag up to her nose

And I see her leap before me, when into my bed I goes.

The funniest thing about her is the way she likes to watch—

Not at all like proper shadows, she’s a bona fide beeyatch;

And she sometimes shoots up taller after any bouncy ball,

And she sometimes chews a stick until there's none of it at all.

She hasn't got a notion of how shadows ought to play,

And makes me tug-a-toy a lot in every sort of way.

She stays so close beside me, but she no coward be;

I'm comforted to know that she is right there next to me.

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,

I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;

And my sweet shadow lightly, my guardian angel true-

Stalked me absolutely; I needed her- she knew.

[With apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson]