In Your Shadow

Behind you, I stand, arms outstretched,

Waiting.

Waiting only to catch you if ever should you fall.

Every so often, you turn your head,

Facing me with nothing to present as thanks except for a simple smile,

Perhaps a comment on the weather.

All I can do is nod.

A returning phrase would seem vulgar.

You were always so much better than I.

Long have I walked in your superior shadow,

Never getting my own chance to bask in the sunshine of success.

But there come many days,

When things aren’t as easy as you make them appear.

The sun doesn’t shine as brightly,

Its light hidden ‘neath a cloud,

And its harder for you to keep up.

So I am your pillar.

You rest your back against me when it’s difficult to stand straight.

And there come many days,

When the path in front of you is no longer a red carpet,

But rather thick, thorny, forest dirt,

And its harder for you to stay balanced and unscathed.

So I catch you when you trip or fall,

And mend you when you bleed.

It is at these moments I carry you when you couldn’t carry yourself,

And it’s in these moments where,

For just a small bit of time,

I get the same light as you.