Shadow Dance

Tadpole Press May writing contest entry (99 words)

She had danced towards his embrace since the day she was born. As a child, he was a concept only experienced when she picked a flower. As a young woman, he was the trope of tragic love in operas. When grown, she raged against him when rendered an orphan. Now as her own twilight approaches, she understands that it was nothing personal, just the way of things. In pain, she now longs for him and writes a simple haiku while patiently waiting for her final lover.

Adumbral embrace

Your wings beat in the absence

Of my own still heart