Sartoris, Shauna

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Digital Commons @ Butler University

13black shadowshauna sartorisWhen I was a kid visiting America I would chase my shadowacross the sidewalk in front of my grandma’s housein Southern Indiana. The pavement there was smooth, themonolithic remains of the cookie-cutter suburb movement. You wouldn’t think this concrete had held the feetof a thousand migrations—you wouldn’t thinkthat I would be so fascinated by my own shadow.Back then I only chased my shadow in America, where the pavement was conduciveto seeing how black a shadow can be. Red dirt in Kenya is an arms-open lover,gathering sunlight in its folds, makingno discrimination against the feet thatstep across it. But in Southern Indiana, the pavement is flat, defined against the grass, andreflects every shadow of every shadow. Pounding feet, Ichased my shadow across the sidewalks of Indiana.My black shadow. My permanent shadow.

Black Shadow

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4799&amp;context=manuscripts

Black Shadow

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