one

i learned early on

to shy away from

"the darkside" 

"the underside"

"the other side"

"trust the inside" and

let it be one

with my "outside"

let my inner light

shine through the translucent skin

of my 

self

and all the while

like any light

i cast a shadow

and the shadow is attached

and touchable

and real

and darkens gently

and brightly lit 

spaces

even softens them!

and i have learned

over time

to love my shadow as being

as much of myself

as my body

my mind

my heart

because really

there are no sides

no edges

no othernesses of any kind

just one self

one wholeness