Shadow World

Young boy,
Beautiful child,
Innocent smile,
Quiet playing in the water by the lakeside,
That image of you is etched in my memory,
You still have that innocence,
You still have that smile,
Great sense of humor,
You love people,
But you are lost,
Living in your shadow world,
As if it is a world of light,
Everyone has a shadow world to some degree,
No shame in that, nor should there be,
God made you,
You are good, so good,
But you also have a world of light inside you,
Live in that world,
Help others to live in that world,
You could,
Open up your light world,
Let that light shine,
You have so much light to share,
Beautiful child,
Shine your light and the shadow world will creep away,
To where it belongs,
Overshadowed, lessened, and diminished.
Bring back the light world inside of you,
It will make you happy,
Like the birthday candles when you were three,
Past, present and future,
Those three you never blow out,
Young man,
Middle aged man,
Old man,
Innocent smile,
Find true self,
And live.

Peter Lowell Paulson

March 7, 2011