PENnED

It’s the Real Thing, Not the Shadow, that Remains 
By Ed Fernandez

Dusk approaches.  
But for this solitary oryx,  
the day isn’t done.

This simple, beautiful image 
seems to say:  
there’s no end in sight  
for the invisible trail it treads.

As the sun’s fading rays strike its athletic form,  
a giant shadow stretches 
across the sand—  
distorting the creature  
until it’s almost unrecognizable.

“Is it on a boat?”  
That’s my wife’s amused query.  
(Well, the setting is a desert, baby!)

What an amazing image this is—  
and one that reminds us:  
what appears large and obvious  
may be a distraction.  
A mirage of meaning, perhaps—  
something that vanishes  
when the light shifts.

For when the sun has set,  
the shadow is nowhere to be found.  

But the real thing—  
that’s what remains.