the shadow moves
without pausing
or even thinking
it does what it’s told
it does what he’s told
it does what she’s told —

what is the gender of a shadow?
shouldn’t it have the pronouns of the object’s shadow?

if a woman throws a shadow
        her shadow should be refered to as she
if a man throws a shadow
        his shadow should be refered to as he
if a tree throws a shadow
        its shadow should be refered to as it

because the shadow is part of its / his / her object
or is it / he / she?

or is the shadow its own self?
does it live?
does it have personality?
does it have its own will?

the shadow only exists
because of the sun
and because of its object
it’s a sexual thing, isn’t it?

the shadow is created and born at the ame time
for its entire life
in every single moment of its existance
the object is its mother
the sun is its father
we’re surrounded by sex every day
without knowing
we’re carrying the permanent hiatus and birth through our entire existance —

while i’m sitting here
the shadow moves forward
i’m looking at it
and the only thing i can think of is sex.

---

        © dominik alexander / 2023