The Cartography of Shadows

my son says
"shadows can draw really well;
but they don't do faces."

we look at the maps of ourselves
coastlines clearly articulated
on the warming grey 
and rippled sea of the footpath

On another day,
I watched shadows ooze
in the river
organic and slippery - 
set adrift somehow
by the flat push of the current
over slimy humps
and gritty sand -
islands on the run

shadows are flat
but define shape
shadows are light on light
and die in the dark

shadows are faithful and faceless
only as fragile as our sun.
They are the black
which means our world is still turning.