Rushing Home

a young teenage girl
leaves high school
netball practice
ephemeral face flushed
with exercised energy

departing into oncoming dust
encroaching early winter night
cold chill already has a bite
light fading distance reduced sight
shadows merge embrace in darkness

years passing see her
briefly in moments only
in passing as she waits
in winter twilight cold
at the high school gate

years stretch now
from shadowed past
to imminent future
possibilities unknown
to realities realized