“The Shadow’s Man” by Luanne Castle

Remedios Varo’s “Phenomenon” (fair use)

after Remedios Varo’s “Phenomenon”

Every day I passed a man sitting on a bench under a mesquite. The unrelenting sun threw shade from the man, and each time the shadow was different. At some point, I began to take photos of the shadows and printed them out. Tough binding tape helped to fasten them into a flipbook. Using my thumb to spin through the pages, I saw the adumbration unbending, then rising, and finally running away from the park. Next day I approached the tree, witnessed the man’s flattened image plastered across the bench as if he were painted there. No shadow in sight.

Copyright © 2024 Luanne Castle, All Rights Reserved

Luanne Castle’s recent fiction can be found in Bending Genres, Roi Fainéant, The Dribble Drabble Review, Does It Have Pockets, South 85 Journal, The Ekphrastic Review, and MasticadoresUSA. She has written several award-winning poetry books. Luanne lives with five cats in Arizona along a wash that wildlife use as a thoroughfare.

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