Sun and Shadows

“There is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night.”

--Albert Camus 

Sun and Shadows

Unless the landscape is barren,

A wasteland without anything,

The sun will always cast shadows;

Light will always forsake something.

Something will be left the in the shade

And will lack illumination.

It will be dark, cold and alone,

Left outside of our attention. 

Do we want that empty landscape?

Desolate, absent any landmark; 

Not even a cactus in sight. 

Do we want emptiness so stark? 

Something so empty and so dead: 

No mountains, no buildings, no clouds.

Can we even live in that space?

How can we survive on those grounds?

With the sun must come shadows,

Since we need more than light to live. 

Clouds must bring their rain to the soil, 

So it will sustain and can give. 

After the light of day comes night. 

A more desolate time for sure, 

But the rest it brings is needed:

To reflect. to grow, as a cure.

We always need the sun to shine,

Because of all the good it brings. 

But, we also need some shadows

And the rest that the nighttime brings.