IN THE LIGHT AND IN THE SHADOWS

IN THE LIGHT AND IN THE SHADOWS

In the light and in the shadows, I can see what's hidden,

What's allowed and what's forbidden,

What is playful, what is dangerous,

What's all the fury, what's all the fuss.

In the shadows of your arms,

There is no cause for alarm,

As you cradle me to your breast,

As I acquiesce to your behest,

As I make my way through the valley of the shadow,

Through the coursing river of my sorrows,

The remaining gusts of tomorrows,

That my soul still must blow through,

In the light and in the shadows,

I will always turn to you.

Like a babe in arms, like a fish still flapping on the deck,

I strive to be a stoic, keep emotions in firm check.

Like a deer in the headlights, I flee the road,

Like most earthly travelers, I believe what I've been sold,

But somehow you are handy with your spirit so uncanny,

When all my trust that still remains lies with the heavens blue,

In the light and in the shadows,

I will always turn to you.

Your goatee brushes Brillo pad across my face,

Your arms reach around my shoulders,

Your love it shows such dependable grace,

Lifting a sorrow heavy as boulders,

With effortless striving you make me new,

I am happy to be sheltered in these covers,

By the ultimate of earthly lovers,

Comforted by the heady wine, all others I eschew,

In the light and in the shadows,

I will always turn to you.

If you need me, only call, and I'll open the door,

Just wait a moment while I limp along

And safely reach the ground floor,

If you need a traveling companion to babysit the hotel room,

Somewhere in my thread of memory, some movement to exhume,

Have wheelchair will travel, here to the moon,

In the light and the shadows,

I will always turn to you.

So travel with me everywhere,

Walk behind to nudge me when i freeze upon the stair,

And count our blessings with me for each day that remains,

Each precious moment that will fall before the final rains,

Before the mud it slides beneath me,

And my footsteps they no longer hold,

When at last my breath deserts me,

My life is not my own.

From now until the bitter end,

When all that's left is you my friend,

Your emotions raw and true,

In the light and in the shadows,

I will always turn to you.

-Bruce Potts

Copyright 2015

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED