Writer Spotlight - Susan Romance

Celestial Separation

By Susan Romance

Tethered to the ground- no flesh 

can fly high. My shadow escapes my

feet - detached from the self yet never 

truly another person. It torments me. 

You never think to look for the 

shade that’s supposed to follow you. 

Only in the bright recess of a burning

sun do you seek someone to fall back

into, and in that intensity both sides

of ourselves are gone - stolen into

the night and consumed by a flame - 

we lost ourselves. Separation by shadow

and divorced from the light - a 

shuddering fear that this may always be

how we are. 

---

Class Photo, Undeveloped 

by Susan Romance

The day is already in 

motion. Can’t stop clogged

arteries and crystal balls. Past

feeding cursed memories to

a future predetermined. Drained 

dry. Rubies rust in daylight. The 

impossible is born after the 

sun sets. Search for it. 

Develop the lost picture.

Chemicals slide into place. The same

for us.