Poem: Growing Shadows

When Lena was little she used to play
With the reading light on her desk
Twirling her fingers in the dusty light
To make her shadow puppets dance
Laughing at dancing imaginary figures 
Moving among posters of boy bands
She’d make kissy faces at when alone
Dreaming off one day kissing for real

She’s living life in growing shadows
That menace her at the end of days
Stretching long across dusty floors
To hold her in a way those boys didn’t
Her former play things now wrap her
In arms of a creation beyond her control
With a hug that she cries into though
It only holds cold comfort of the past
When the light made her promises
That are now nothing but ethereal ghosts

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Copyright © 2021 TJS Sherman All rights reserved.

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