{"id":123,"date":"2015-08-01T04:59:40","date_gmt":"2015-08-01T04:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sylviaarthur.com\/poemswithpictures.com\/?p=123"},"modified":"2015-08-14T19:15:07","modified_gmt":"2015-08-14T19:15:07","slug":"shadows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/?p=123","title":{"rendered":"Shadows"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Poem<\/strong><\/p>\n

This poem made me think of childhood summers and all the adventures and mischief kids discover on those hot lazy days. As I read on, there is another layer to this poem; a deeper, darker story. Who is the guide and where did she go?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Picture<\/strong><\/p>\n

I chose to illustrate the precious childhood memory that I can visualize so easily from these words. The second layer of this story is implied by the dark shadows,\u00a0although I really can\u2019t know what the story is. I don\u2019t need to know, but I want to.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shadows<\/strong><\/p>\n

A strange empty space where a bright, smiling face once was.<\/p>\n

Through childlike eyes, I recall it often.<\/p>\n

A slight figure, with medusa like hair<\/p>\n

waiting to take me by the hand<\/p>\n

to the forbidden cache of summer bounties<\/p>\n

our parents so carefully hid from us in the garage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I was much smaller, and not as skilled as my guide,<\/p>\n

but that was no matter,<\/p>\n

we were united in purpose and intent.<\/p>\n

Those succulent, red orbs.<\/p>\n

They seemed to glow in the light of the window<\/p>\n

as we navigated our way through the locked door,<\/p>\n

and made our entrance<\/p>\n

into the damp, cool space\u2026unseen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I remember the taste of joy.<\/p>\n

Bursting with a tangy-sweet ripeness\u2026<\/p>\n

the refreshment of laughter,<\/p>\n

and the smiles of approval, at the thought of our stealth<\/p>\n

in the shadows of that garage.<\/p>\n

As we sat, sharing our salt shaker\u2026<\/p>\n

ate our fill\u2026 you<\/p>\n

read to me aloud from the side<\/p>\n

of the countless boxes<\/p>\n

from the Okanagan valley.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

T o m a t o e s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I thought about it for many years<\/p>\n

every time I went to market.<\/p>\n

One day I ate tomatoes with you, and the next day you were gone<\/p>\n

with no explanation,<\/p>\n

and I<\/p>\n

myself, alone,<\/p>\n

without a guide<\/p>\n

to help me navigate a path<\/p>\n

to your door. Tears and questions,<\/p>\n

loud voices in the afternoon saying,<\/p>\n

\u201cBad choices\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever mind, you don\u2019t need to know\u201d<\/p>\n

all the while<\/p>\n

I wanted to.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All my life<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve stumbled over not knowing her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now,<\/p>\n

as we steal the key to that old garage<\/p>\n

and make our way through the door<\/p>\n

together, I am thankful for the light.<\/p>\n

A certain Phosphorescence<\/p>\n

drawing us<\/p>\n

to understanding<\/p>\n

as the years<\/p>\n

pass.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By: Sue Michaud<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Shadows\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTomato Thieves\u201d By: Sylvia Arthur<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Poem This poem made me think of childhood summers and all the adventures and mischief kids discover on those hot lazy days. As I read on, there is another layer to this poem; a deeper, darker story. Who is the guide and where did she go?   The Picture I chose to illustrate the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130,"href":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poemswithpictures.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}