I have a little shadow

Do you have a little shadow today? You know the type. The little clinger that follows behind you as you try to clean up the kitchen, cook dinner, go to the bathroom, etc.

Whether my mother knew it or not, she imprinted the following poem within the folds of my mind as a child. Not only is it one of my most favorite poems, but OH! the therapy it has offered! Learn this poem friends. Recite it to your little shadow. You will certainly find some comfort in its rhythm and your shadow will learn one of the greatest poems ever written.  

My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow--
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes goes so little that there's none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close behind me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.