windows

Our prompt for Haibun Monday is offered by Toni

(Photograph of Francesca by me taken with Pentax Me Super and Tmax 100 film stock)

“Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty.”
― Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows

So…shadows is a pretty open theme. The only rules are:
• Must be written in Classic Japanese form with one to two tight paragraphs with a seasonal haiku to wrap it up.
• Must be true and have actually happened to you.
Write about shadows! The shadow knows…mwahahahahahahaaaa!

Here is how to play!
*Write your haibun and link it to this post.
*Add the link to Mr. Linky below this.
*Read and comment on others who have linked. It is how we grow our community and it is always interesting and useful to see how others responded to the prompt.
**Get to know your fellow poets better!
Post on your social media #dversepoets

And most of all, have fun!

The studio was a small room in an old warehouse. Just big enough for the two of us and the lights. It was bloody cold. The black material draped across a wooden pole served as the shadow out of which the portrait could be birthed. We improvised with a blanket that served a dual purpose. It offered a frame and it kept her blue hands from deepening that shade.

Light fell on her face as if window borne but this box was all wall. Catch lit eyes reflected something of her own shadow perhaps. It was hard to tell. I didn’t know her. I was essentially there to shoot fine art nudes but when the films were developed it was the portrait that took my breath away when it floated dreamily out of the darkroom tray to offer me a glimpse of soul.

strangers in a room

winter cold cuts to the bone

eyes burn in shadow