She and Shadows

She and Shadows

In the ways that she took by

There were people who eyed thigh,

When the hours grew darker

Her heart fastly went fainter.

On the lone and silent nights

When the whistles blowed every crevice,

And the dark concealed shadows in black

She felt black drapes stealing back.

Longed they her from every direction

Satchel bumped on tarred construction,

Shadows grabbed her thin hand fierce

Watch shattered in utter silence.

Satchel and watch and cloth all flyed

There she stood all bare on high,

Screams filled on every which way

Shadows kept roving in dauntless countenance.

—Prashant Tiwari