Sacred Contracts XXII: Shadow Work

"I thought the most beautiful thing
In the world must be a shadow..."
~ Plath
     
Shadows aren’t faceless reflections      
of ourselves in stalking silhouettes      
of concrete edging the weedy grass      
and gravel-faced dirt of our pasts.      
     
They’re storms brewing: God’s stale      
breath at noon ashing his cigarette      
over shag carpet, yellowed fingertip      
eclipsing our kaleidoscopic vision.        
     
Shadows aren’t cool, shady respites      
or dark muscles flexing. Nor are they      
survival, ego, or possessed knowledge      
from combatant experiences of victory.      
     
Shadows teach you how to weep,      
unabashedly; because, when you weep      
you learn empathy and the vulnerability      
of a broken-boned world despite yourself.      
     
When you weep, a deep compassion      
is birthed; and, being compassionate,      
being as Source, and respecting the earth      
is the means to give and receive Love.      
     
Now, we can keep our faces to the sun;      
it’s our choice. Deny anything's wrong.      
But, sooner rather than later, we all must      
turn, and strip ourselves naked to trust.     
     
The future is yet to come; it begins      
when we depart this world. This is just      
a stopping place, a chance to taste    
'the valley of the Shadow of Death'.      
     
It’s the only way to reach the mountain top,    
where 'the landing of the light' waits for us.     
~