i walk on my hands now
i used to walk on my feet
like everyone else
but i got tired of
my shadow always
dogging my heels
i jumped a lot
but that was exhausting
and i always had to come
down
so
now i walk on my hands
the first time
i did it
i was able to lock hands
with my shadow
and wrestle him off the ground
empty where his eyes were
smooth where his ears should be
vacant where his mouth might have opened
yet it laughed
this human-sized oil spill
knowing that my only choices were
to pull it to myself
so that would never be parted
or go back to letting it follow me
i walk on my hands now
on my shadow, hand-in-hand
a compromise
