The Growth of Shade

As trees lean taller into themselves their leaves cling more certainly to each other. The sun, shut out, slides graciously away. What is left, of course, is shade. A thicket of darkness on the lea side of morning.

The growth of shade brings contentment, air cooled by absence of light. A shady street is anything but shady. It is proud, its houses shielded from the street and the glances of strangers. It is green and settled.

A neighborhood rich in shade is rich in so much else.