“her body, between the buildings/behind her and the parked cars/in front, throwing a coal-black shadow/on the ground the color/of tarnished silver…”
A narrow sidewalk freshly washed
by rain and now flooded
with sunlight—a single figure
in the middle—a woman, smoking,
her body, between the buildings
behind her and the parked cars
in front, throwing a coal-black shadow
on the ground the color
of tarnished silver—Can I take a picture,
he wants to ask—Of your
shadow? He’s too close to steal a candid
shot—a black top, a pair
of white pants and black shoes—what better
colors for a black & white
picture! But the shadow is all
he wants—her face silhouetted
against the flood of sunlight freshly washed
by rain, gossamer clouds billowing
from her light-lined mouth—too close
to steal a shot and too shy
to ask, he edges past the shadow—camera
in hand, a bitter-sweet whiff in his nose.
Eugene Datta is the author of the poetry collection Water & Wave, which was released with Redhawk in 2024. He has worked as a newspaper journalist, a book reviewer, and an editor. His fiction and poetry have appeared in publications such as Common Ground Review, The Dalhousie Review, Mantis, Hamilton Stone Review, The Bangalore Review, and elsewhere. Born and raised in India, he lives in Aachen, Germany. His debut collection of stories The Color of Noon is forthcoming from Serving House Books.
