Chapter 3
Shadows Along the Stem
Darkness stretches long at noon, still I lift my head too soon — shadow teaches where to bend, never lets my courage end.
The sun does not stay bright from dawn to dusk;
clouds drift and darken, cool the air to husk.
Long shadows stretch and cling where I have grown,
trace every line and bend I’ve ever known.
They follow up from roots to golden head,
whispering of the things I’ve had to dread —
of lonely nights, of promises unkept,
of all the tears I silently have wept.
But shadows only show where sunlight falls;
they do not break the stem or scale its walls.
I learn to lean, to turn, to shift my place,
let light return and warm my upturned face.
What falls behind cannot outshine the gold —
I rise above the stories that were told.
With every shadow, stronger still I stand,
rooted deep in this familiar land.