Don't Be Afraid Of The Shadows, Julia

Don’t be afraid of the shadows, Julia,

The darkness can be your friend.

You can’t live your life in the sunshine,

Even the brightest day must end.

Night-time comes, candles are lit,

The shadows begin to fall

Casting phantom figures

Which dance upon your wall.

Shapes and forms at your command

Performing as you like –

Giants and dragons, witches and ghosts,

Your dream-wishes bring them to life.

The mantle of darkness, my Julia shall wear

With ne’ery a trace of fright,

At home beneath moon and the wandering stars,

A princess of the night.

I sketched out the preliminary lines for this poem on Halloween, 1991 when Julia was one day old and still in the hospital.  I finished it later, of course, but the inspiration was two-fold.  First, we had finally decided on her name that day, and I loved the name “Julia” for so many reasons, but partly because there was a “Julia” on Dark Shadows.  And the song “Julia” by Annie Lennox was going through my head over and over while I held this tiny brand new life in my hands.

Secondly, Deb and I loved the night, and the shadows, and the mystery, and the danger that was present in all those gothic novels, stories, and movies, from classics like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, to more popular outlets like Victoria Holt and Anne Rice.  And I didn’t want my daughter to be afraid of the nighttime, or the shadows, or the darkness, because those times happen to us in this world, as well as the worlds of literature and imagination.

And finally, all the old poems my mother, and my grandmother used to recite to me, with the older language and the older cadence and rhyme, these were also going through my head as I held her close to me and passed the time until we left the hospital to take her, not home, but to the theatre. From “Little Orphan Annie” to  “The Land of Beginning Again” the old sounds were in my thoughts as I held this new life.

So, nineteen years later, I wanted to share this with you, and to re-dedicate it to my beautiful daughter, Julia -- a brave, strong, and formidable woman who is definitely not afraid of the shadows.