Shadow Life

Tonight I sought a dearest friend,
To guide my broken heart to mend.
She asked what caused in me such strife
I told her t’was my shadow life.
 
She recognized in me the things
That haunt her nightly in her dreams.
The decisions that she didn’t make.
All the roads we didn’t take.
 
The good, the bad, the who’d have known.
That shaped the women never grown.
I’ve often wondered who I’d have been
If ever a decision was changed back then.
 
Had I have signed that long contract
That led me into ground combat.
Stayed the times I chose to leave,
Or transferred schools before year three.
 
If I’d have walked away that night
Instead of choosing to stay and fight.
Let things go before he left home.
Not lost those years while he was gone.  
 
My friend looked deep into my misty eyes
And said sincerely, to my surprise,
It doesn’t matter the history you’re from,
I like the person who you’ve become.
 
For a moment - then - I opened up.
I let her inside and that was enough.
No shadow life could quite compare,
To the fascinating one I’m living here.