Not the song sung by so many
But a way of saying
Something of us lurks
Beyond what we most often see
Just the other day
I walked in the noon day sun and watched
How my shadow followed me
Just about everywhere I went
In a much deeper sense
Our shadow abides, just beyond our conscious grasp
Carl Jung would say—
The unformed, non-integrated parts of us
On a sunny day, we’re wedded forever
To that faint outline of our being
That appears always one step behind us
One degree separating us from the moment to come
Shadows, like mirrors, remind us
Even when we’d rather forget
That life unfolds moment by moment
Dispelling all myths we are eternal
Of my shadow I ask
What is it that you bring
That will save me from the setting sun
The pain of ice cold darkness
As so often I’ve found
And surely you’d agree
Our shadow is always there
Even when no sun does appear
Poetic Alchemist 
Don,
The poem you’ve written, “Me and My Shadow”, expresses what I think about so much, but can’t seem to find the words to express. You’ve done it….said it so well. Captured so many thoughts……in that deeper sense that we all must face some day. Thanks so much for sharing your poetry! This poem is one that is near and dear to my heart.
Time’s Flow
I was barred from even playing
with the shadow cast on the wall.
How many times Grandma had chided me in Childhood:
“Can’t play so much with the shadow, son,
you can go mad…”
But I had such a yen for the shadow,
like the monsoon’s for river water flow!
So I kept playing with shadow.
So great was the mad urge
I kept flowing surf after surf.
To-day, when all this is long past
suddenly somehow from somewhere
dawns understanding
of time’s flow
in Grandma’s words.
All my entanglements are on fire;
let now my self’s image
with the shadow merge!
-Original Poem in Gujrati by Rajendra Shukla
© Translated in English by Pradip Khandwalla