Night was falling in the coppice-wood
Each strand of light threadbare and bluish
Thinned out into mystery
The path darkened, populated by shadows
The clock in the church tower struck
The hour of the owls
Something shrieked in the distance
And a human shape approached on a bike
I clutched my umbrella with sweaty palms
My pulse quickened
Fear
Terror
Excitement
A frightening moment all my own
Seductive, scary
A flirt with danger
An out-of-body experience
A de-individuation
Dilating, not shrinking
Expecting to turn into a leaf or a slug to escape it all
Or to simply sit still and dissolve into a breath or a breeze
But then there you were
My phone lighting up with your number
Asking if I was OK
The man on the bike pedaled on
And I was left alone to settle into the peace
And the exhilaration.
#poetry #creative #writing
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