I

The boy stands in the light,
and a shadow-copy of his likeness
appears on the ground.

Is the boy the real thing
or is reality in his shadow?
Can one exist without the other?

The shadow can show itself
only when the boy is present.
So, the boy is key.

But when the boy stands in the darkness,
the shadow copy of his likeness
is nowhere to be found.

The boy may be the key
that unlocks the shadow,
but not the source.

All is indistinct in the dark,
with or without the boy.
only in light is shadow seen.

The shadow needs light to exist,
to copy what is real and solid,
with impermanent likeness.

II

What is darkness,
but the absence of light?
Day’s sunshine passed into night.

What is a lie,
but the absence of truth,
A shadow-copy without essence?

Our human shadow-lies
are only revealed
by the presence of truth’s light.

In the darkness of ambiguous truth
our shadow likenesses
are swallowed in the night.

We may hold inside us the key
that unlocks the shadows,
but we are not the source.

Dark shadows within and without
are exposed and seen
only in the presence of light.

Shadows can only deceptively mimic
the reality of the Light of the World
in which eternal truth is found.