Dance Of Shadows

Boy in Blue
Originally uploaded by Adagio.

The small child toddles on sturdy legs,
watched over by the woman not his mother.
In one hand he carries a basket; with the other
he holds himself steady.
I love his smallness; the long ago delight,
exhibited in his autonomous journey
towards the photographer.

I know this child, now grown.
Know familiarly the autonomous steps,
grown bigger; more deliberate.
It is impossible to disconnect
the man from the child.
Or fail to see the shadow of one
peering out from behind the other.
Excruciating not to extend heart and arms,
to embrace both: man and child,
fused in this exquisite dance of shadows.

January/2004