Monday, April 3, 2017

Shadows Know


image by glenn buttkus.


Shadows Know

“The very substance of the ambitious is merely
the shadow of a dream.”--William Shakespeare.

Shadows are companions, artists, jesters and
sanctuary from Sol. I love to click images where I
find shadows have created their own geometrics,
complicating & complimenting the composition.

When the wind is active, clouds race across the sky
and shadows streak like ghostly bullet trains. As the
playful clouds smother the sun, the shadows smile,
deepening as they mantle things, magically in flux.  

Moon shadows are sprites, specters, & night dancers.
On bright days, shadow kaleidoscopes cut abstract
swaths under, behind, & adjacent to everything--
comprising a second reality, an undulating ever-
changing dimensional shift.

For me, the finest
shadow artists are trees, for

they spin dream catchers.


Glenn Buttkus






13 comments:

tonispencer said...

I do like this and you are right, trees are the greatest of shadow artsts. Your haiku at the end is wonderful in how it ties up the prose portion.

Jane Dougherty said...

Trees as shadow-dancers. I like that :)

indybev said...

I liked it all, and it's ever so much more effective when listening to the audio. Bravo, Glenn!

Anonymous said...

Tree shadows are the best and I too love to explore these patterns with camera in hand. Thoroughly enjoyable read Glenn.

Jilly said...

"On bright days, shadow kaleidoscopes cut abstract
swaths under, behind, & adjacent to everything--"
This is the line that most captured me, which is a tough call because this entire poem is captivating. LOVE that your voice accompanied it. This is today's keeper for me, Glenn!
I'm awed by the beauty of your words!

Grace said...

You made the shadows come alive with our souls Glenn ~ Love each stanza but the haiku is a gem with trees as shadow artists ~ Indeed they are ~

Frank Hubeny said...

I agree that trees are fine shadow artists. Nice quote from Shakespeare with substance as just the shadow of a dream, not even the dream itself. I also liked the personification of moon shadows.

Wolfsrosebud said...

A picture within a picture. I like that. You give shadows a whole new meaning.

brudberg said...

I really love the haiku here, and your thought of clouds and shadows making the world come alive. This is one of your best.

Kim M. Russell said...

Another well-chosen quote, Glenn. Having seen some of your photography on Facebook, I kind of had an inkling that you are a shadow man! I am with you on that: 'shadows are companions, artists, jesters and sanctuary from Sol'. I love that sentence: 'When the wind is active, clouds race across the sky and shadows streak like ghostly bullet trains'. I also love that you have included moon shadows - my favourite. But most of all, I fully embrace the idea of trees as shadow artists, spinning dream catchers. Wow!

Sumana Roy said...

This is quite a kaleidoscopic view of shadow. Shadows born of day and night are so beautifully delineated. Specially love the haiku...

Maria said...

Trees spinning dream catchers! Well captured~

Sabio Lantz said...

Fun shadow art -- almost as good as the trees do!