I was always fascinated by shadows
and the way they hugged the burning sidewalk
in spite of the summer heat that burned
my Oden’s worn paws.

I remember hearing that his heart has stopped
beating after so many years of running and trying
in spite of the way my mother drenched
him in her disdain.

I remember wondering if the shadows really were
so simple as areas shaded from the sun because
I swear I could see them drifting alongside the car
and lulling me to a dreamless sleep.

I wonder now if shadows are the in-betweens,
the ones coming back later, the reincarnates. I
wonder if we all pass through the earth again
as drifting shadows to see the imprints
our lives had left.