{"id":2250,"date":"2023-02-01T14:08:32","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T22:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevegillard.com\/erleichda\/?p=2250"},"modified":"2023-02-01T14:08:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T22:08:32","slug":"a-gnats-shadow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegillard.com\/erleichda\/2023\/02\/01\/a-gnats-shadow\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gnat’s Shadow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n

A Gnat\u2019s Shadow<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes
\nYou behave as if
\nYou\u2019re serving
\na life sentence
\nfor the crime of
\nbeing You.<\/p>\n

No possibility of
\nparole, and
\nYou\u2019ve made
\nthe rest of us
\nYour probation officers,<\/p>\n

especially
\nthe ones who
\nimagine
\nthey are
\nassigned, or
\ndeserve to be,
\nthe assayers
\nof Your guilt
\nor innocence,<\/p>\n

beginning with
\nYour parents,
\nthen Your
\nteachers and
\npreachers and
\nbosses and
\nspouses,<\/p>\n

as if they were
\nappointed by
\nsome celestial
\ncourt of
\nlast resort,<\/p>\n

when, in fact,<\/p>\n

Your Being
\nis made of
\nLight,<\/p>\n

a Flame
\nthat scorns
\nthe Shame
\nthat wrote Your
\nsentence<\/p>\n

like a
\nbutterfly
\nscorns
\na gnat\u2019s
\nshadow.<\/p>\n

(Photo by Calvin Mano; UnSplash)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  A Gnat\u2019s Shadow Sometimes You behave as if You\u2019re serving a life sentence for the crime of being You. No possibility of parole, and You\u2019ve made the rest of us Your probation officers, especially the ones who imagine they are assigned, or deserve to be, the assayers of Your guilt or innocence, beginning with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t