The Man from the Shadows

Heart pounding,
hands shaking,
she watches you in the shadows.
Your figure imposing,
your voice soothing.
She's missed it all.
And when you stare at her,
she feels like you are staring into her soul.
She watches you in the shadows,
afraid to make a move.
Afraid to try again.
Afraid to lose again.
But you asked her to dance,
and she danced with the man from the shadows.
Later, with bodies intertwined,
you poured out your secrets to her.
She says little but absorbs it all.
And when your breath evened,
she lay there listening to the steady thrum of your heart.
She didn't want to leave,
but she had to.
And she hoped it would be something...
but, instead it seemed...
it was nothing.
And she tries to pretend that the wound in her heart is an old one,
a scab you simply picked
instead of a crack you created.
And she remembers the shadows,
the dance,
limbs twisted together.
The lazy comfort,
the safety she felt
just for a little while
in the arms of the man from the shadows.