Arts
NARRATOR: ‘The Shadow’ by Michelle Penn, a London-based poet and fiction writer. SHADOW: (Tone: humorous jealousy) I am only her follower, her echo, barely noticeable. She flits and she flirts with the bird in her hand and she sings, she sings, tra-la-la-waltzing her way across a patch of grass, her stage, lit just for her by a gracious sun. I do my best, follow and keep up, but she’s more graceful, more subtle than I — a mere shadow. She has even dressed for the occasion, outdone me once again, her snappy white dress and hat match the house perfectly. They even match the clouds, those perfect painter’s puffs. Or no. Of course. They dressed to look like her. (Humorous, singing a little made-up song) How can the river and trees even compete when my little mistress takes to her feet? (Speaking again) Even her dog, what’s-his-name, even he can’t command attention the way she can. He simply barks his unbroken adulation, his anthem of love and she laughs, taps him playfully on the nose before joining a new duet with the birds. If she could, she’d take wing, her dress billowing, drawing her above the treetops and toward the clouds. I’d be […]