Exceptional A theme presented in five forms My Shadow by Henry King Multi-Form Madness contest entry

Prose Hai bun The grey-haired old man, laughing at the slap-stick comedy on America's Funniest Home Videos, reminisced in his Lazy Boy recliner. In the 1940s, he watched Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplain shorts at the movie theater. The Funniest Videos' scene switched, a Dachshund was chasing its shadow, like a dog chases its tail. Round and round, barking and snapping until the dog noticed the shadow was in front of him. Now, he had it on the run. The next scene, a young girl running from her shadow screaming in fear. The old man sat up quickly. He had a flash back to those 1940s. He hid behind the couch when on the radio Lamont Cranston's eerie voice says, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows. Heh, heh, heh." Haiku shadow fear looms close neither speak eat breath nor drink who knows what's evil Traditional rhymed verse In the morning it stretches West At noon underfoot it hides best In the evening it stretches East It does not speak one word two or three It does not drink water milk or tea It does not eat apples meat or brie It is hiding this ephemeral me Not from people this dark me But from sunlight this elastic me I know not why this shadow me Pantoum In the morning it stretches to the West At high noon it hides beneath my feet In the evening it stretches to the East It does not speak one word two or three At high noon it hides beneath my feet It does not drink water milk or tea In the evening it stretches to the East It does not eat apples meat or brie It does not speak one word two or three It is hiding this ephemeral me It does not drink water milk or tea Not from people this dark me It does not eat apples meat or brie But from sunlight this elastic me It is hiding this ephemeral me I know not why this shadow me Anaphora It always waits It stretches West It stretches East It hides from the light It hides beneath my feet It hides not in the night It does not speak a word It does not drink a drop It does not eat a bite It does not take a breath It is ephemeral It is elastic It is the dark side It is a shadow It is me Recognized Author Notes A theme, My Shadow, served five ways. Prose Hai bun, Haiku, Traditional Rhymed Verse, Pantoum and an Anaphora.

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