Poem: Smoke and shadow

Hat drawn down
on eyes glowing at the end of a fat, filter-less cigarette,
Treading on a shadow with a dark trilby,
beneath barely a lamp lit evening.

Shrinking upwards
into a stiff collared, drenching raincoat,
Face hidden, other
than that fiery eye.

A car door clicks
open, momentarily before the cigarette is flicked.
Another ember burns
as that eye fades in the gutter,

watching the emergence of a long, heeled leg,
the peak of the hat rises, extending shadows
that yet still cover the glowing coals,
burning brighter now.

A front door clicks
closed, and the watching shadow shrugs
some rain from its shoulders. It turns,
walking away with the shadow and a burning cigarette.

Picture credit