Anthony's Literary Lens

Tag: shadow

  • The Light in the Stable

    The Light in the Stable

    Silence speaks my name,
    Ancient patience in her eyes,
    I forget to leave.

    Horse, pony
    The Image That Captured Me

    The stables smelled of hay and old wood shavings, the kind of scent that clings to your clothes long after you’ve left. It was late afternoon, and the air was thick with the quiet hum of horses shifting in their stalls, the occasional rustle of straw underhoof. I had come here on a whim, drawn by the kind of restlessness that only a change of scenery can soothe. The owner, a wiry man with hands like cracked leather, had nodded at me as I wandered in, as if he understood that some people just need to stand in the presence of animals to remember what silence feels like.

    The stalls were arranged in a long, dim row, each door latched with iron that had seen decades of use. Most of the horses were dozing, their massive bodies still, their breath slow and deep. But then there was this one – a white horse, its coat almost luminous in the gloom. It stood near the front of its stall, its head turned just enough to catch the light.

    And what light it was.

    Somehow, the sun had found a gap in the stable walls – a narrow slit, no wider than a hand, where the wood had warped or shrunk over time. A beam of golden light cut through the darkness like a blade, falling directly onto the horse’s face. The effect was surreal, almost sacred. The horse’s white fur glowed as if lit from within, its dark eyes reflecting something ancient and knowing. For a moment, it felt like I was witnessing a secret, something not meant for human eyes.

    I stood there, frozen. The horse didn’t move, didn’t flinch. It simply stared back, its gaze steady, as if it had been waiting for someone to notice. The light traced the curve of its muzzle, the delicate ridge of its cheekbone, turning the ordinary into something mythic. I thought of paintings I’d seen in museums, of saints and angels bathed in divine light. But this was no painting. This was real, fleeting, a moment suspended in time.

    I reached for my phone, my fingers fumbling. The camera lens struggled to capture what my eyes could see – the contrast, the depth, the way the light seemed to breathe. But when I looked at the photo later, there it was: the horse, the light, the quiet intensity of that stolen moment.

    The owner found me still standing there, phone in hand. He glanced at the horse, then at me, and smiled. “That one,” he said, “she’s always been like that. Like she’s waiting for something.” I didn’t ask what. Some things don’t need explaining.

    Outside, the world was still turning – cars passing, people talking, the usual noise of life. But in that stable, with the light falling just so, everything felt still. And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel the need to move. I just stood there, watching the light shift, the horse’s breath steady and sure, and wondered what it was we were both waiting for.

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    Tap here for a list of 100 endangered animals and plants.

    100 endangered plant and animal species

    * Abies beshanzuensis (Baishan fir) – Plant (Tree) – Baishanzu Mountain, Zhejiang, China – Three mature individuals

    * Actinote zikani – Insect (butterfly) – Near São Paulo, Atlantic forest, Brazil – Unknown numbers

    * Aipysurus foliosquama (Leaf scaled sea-snake) – Reptile – Ashmore Reef and Hibernia Reef, Timor Sea – Unknown numbers * Amanipodagrion gilliesi (Amani flatwing) – Insect (damselfly) – Amani-Sigi Forest, Usamabara Mountains, Tanzania – < 500 individuals * Antisolabis seychellensis – Insect – Morne Blanc, Mahé island, Seychelles – Unknown numbers * Antilophia bokermanni (Araripe manakin) – Bird – Chapado do Araripe, South Ceará, Brazil – 779 individuals * Aphanius transgrediens (Aci Göl toothcarp) – Fish – south-eastern shore of former Lake Aci, Turkey – Few hundred pairs * Aproteles bulmerae (Bulmer’s fruit bat) – Mammal – Luplupwintern Cave, Western Province, Papua New Guinea – 150 * Ardea insignis (White bellied heron) – Bird – Bhutan, North East India and Myanmar – 70–400 individuals * Ardeotis nigriceps (Great Indian bustard) – Bird – Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya, India – 50–249 mature individuals * Astrochelys yniphora (Ploughshare tortoise) – Reptile – Baly Bay region, northwestern Madagascar – 440–770 * Atelopus balios (Rio Pescado stubfoot toad) – Amphibian – Azuay, Cañar and Guyas provinces, south-western Ecuador – Unknown numbers * Aythya innotata (Madagascar pochard) – Bird – volcanic lakes north of Bealanana, Madagascar – 80 mature individuals * Azurina eupalama (Galapagos damsel fish) – Fish – Unknown numbers – Unknown numbers * Bahaba taipingensis (Giant yellow croaker) – Fish – Chinese coast from Yangtze River, China to Hong Kong – Unknown numbers * Batagur baska (Common batagur) – Reptile (turtle) – Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Malaysia – Unknown numbers * Bazzania bhutanica – Plant – Budini and Lafeti Khola, Bhutan – 2 sub-populations * Beatragus hunteri (Hirola) – Mammal (antelope) – South-east Kenya and possibly south-west Somalia – < 1,000 individuals * Bombus franklini (Franklin’s bumblebee) – Insect (bee) – Oregon and California – Unknown numbers * Brachyteles hypoxanthus (Northern muriqui / Woolly spider monkey) – Mammal (primate) – Atlantic forest, south-eastern Brazil – < 1,000 * Bradypus pygmaeus (Pygmy three-toed sloth) – Mammal – Isla Escudo de Veraguas, Panama – < 500 * Callitriche pulchra – Plant (freshwater) – pool on Gavdos, Greece – Unknown numbers * Calumma tarzan (Tarzan’s chameleon) – Reptile – Anosibe An’Ala region, eastern Madagascar – < 100 * Cavia intermedia (Santa Catarina’s guinea pig) – Mammal (rodent) – Moleques do Sul Island, Santa Catarina, Brazil – 40–60 * Cercopithecus roloway (Roloway guenon) – Mammal (primate) – Côte d’Ivoire – Unknown numbers * Coleura seychellensis (Seychelles sheath-tailed bat) – Mammal (bat) – Two small caves on Silhouette and Mahé, Seychelles – < 100 * Cryptomyces maximus (Willow blister) – Fungi – Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom – Unknown numbers * Cryptotis nelsoni (Nelson’s small-eared shrew) – Mammal (shrew) – Volcán San Martín Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico – Unknown numbers * Cyclura collei (Jamaican iguana / Jamaican rock iguana) – Reptile – Hellshire Hills, Jamaica – Unknown numbers * Daubentonia madagascariensis (Aye-aye) – Mammal (primate) – Deciduous forest, East Madagascar – Unknown numbers * Dendrophylax fawcettii (Cayman Islands ghost orchid) – Plant (orchid) – Ironwood Forest, George Town, Grand Cayman – Unknown numbers * Dicerorhinus sumatrensis (Sumatran rhino) – Mammal (rhino) – Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia – < 100 (more recent estimates suggest 34-47) * Diomedea amsterdamensis (Amsterdam albatross) – Bird – Breeds on Plateuau des Tourbières, Amsterdam Island, Indian Ocean. – 100 mature individuals * Dioscorea strydomiana (Wild yam) – Plant – Oshoek area, Mpumalanga, South Africa – 200 * Diospyros katendei – Plant (tree) – Kasyoha-Kitomi Forest Reserve, Uganda – 20 individuals in a single population * Dipterocarpus lamellatus – Plant (tree) – Siangau Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia – 12 individuals * Discoglossus nigriventer (Hula painted frog) – Amphibian – Hula Valley, Israel – Unknown numbers * Dombeya mauritiana – Plant – Mauritius – Unknown numbers * Elaeocarpus bojeri (Bois Dentelle) – Plant (tree) – Grand Bassin, Mauritius – < 10 individuals * Eleutherodactylus glandulifer (La Hotte glanded frog) – Amphibian – Massif de la Hotte, Haiti – Unknown numbers * Eleutherodactylus thorectes (Macaya breast-spot frog) – Amphibian – Formon and Macaya peaks, Masif de la Hotte, Haiti – Unknown numbers * Eriosyce chilensis (Chilenito (cactus)) – Plant – Pta Molles and Pichidungui, Chile – < 500 individuals * Erythrina schliebenii (Coral tree) – Plant – Namatimbili-Ngarama Forest, Tanzania – < 50 individuals * Euphorbia tanaensis – Plant (tree) – Witu Forest Reserve, Kenya – 4 mature individuals * Eurynorhyncus pygmeus (Spoon-billed sandpiper) – Bird – Breeds in Russia, migrates along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway to wintering grounds in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar – 100 breeding pairs * Ficus katendei – Plant – Kasyoha-Kitomi Forest Reserve, Ishasha River, Uganda – < 50 mature individuals * Geronticus eremita (Northern bald ibis) – Bird – Breeds in Morocco, Turkey and Syria. Syrian population winters in central Ethiopia. – About 3000 individuals * Gigasiphon macrosiphon – Plant (flower) – Kaya Muhaka, Gongoni and Mrima Forest Reserves, Kenya, Amani Nature Reserve, West Kilombero Scarp Forest Reserve, and Kihansi Gorge, Tanzania – 33 * Gocea ohridana – Mollusc – Lake Ohrid, Macedonia – Unknown numbers * Heleophryne rosei (Table mountain ghost frog) – Amphibian – Table Mountain, Western Cape Province, South Africa – Unknown numbers * Hemicycla paeteliana – Mollusc (land snail) – Jandia peninsula, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands – Unknown numbers * Heteromirafa sidamoensis (Liben lark) – Bird – Liben Plains, southern Ethiopia – 90–256 * Hibiscadelphus woodii – Plant (tree) – Kalalau Valley, Hawaii – Unknown numbers * Hucho perryi (Sakhalin taimen) – Fish – Russian and Japanese rivers, Pacific Ocean between Russia and Japan – Unknown numbers * Johora singaporensis (Singapore freshwater crab) – Crustacean – Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and streamlet near Bukit Batok, Singapore – Unknown numbers * Lathyrus belinensis (Belin vetchling) – Plant – Outskirts of Belin village, Antalya, Turkey – < 1,000 * Leiopelma archeyi (Archey’s frog) – Amphibian – Coromandel peninsula and Whareorino Forest, New Zealand – Unknown numbers * Lithobates sevosus (Dusky gopher frog) – Amphibian – Harrison County, Mississippi, USA – 60–100 * Lophura edwardsi (Edwards’s pheasant) – Bird – Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, Viet Nam – Unknown numbers * Magnolia wolfii – Plant (tree) – Risaralda, Colombia – 3 * Margaritifera marocana – Mollusc – Oued Denna, Oued Abid and Oued Beth, Morocco – < 250 * Moominia willii – Mollusc (snail) – Silhouette Island, Seychelles – < 500 * Natalus primus (Cuban greater funnel eared bat) – Mammal (bat) – Cueva La Barca, Isle of Pines, Cuba – < 100 * Nepenthes attenboroughii (Attenborough’s pitcher plant) – Plant – Mount Victoria, Palawan, Philippines – Unknown numbers * Nomascus hainanus (Hainan black crested gibbon) – Mammal (primate) – Hainan Island, China – 20 * Neurergus kaiseri (Luristan newt) – Amphibian – Zagros Mountains, Lorestan, Iran – < 1,000 * Oreocnemis phoenix (Mulanje red damsel) – Insect (damselfly) – Mulanje Plateau, Malawi – Unknown numbers * Pangasius sanitwongsei (Pangasid catfish) – Fish – Chao Phraya and Mekong basins in Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam – Unknown numbers * Parides burchellanus – Insect (butterfly) – Cerrado, Brazil – < 100 * Phocoena sinus (Vaquita) – Mammal (porpoise) – Northern Gulf of California, Mexico – 12 * Picea neoveitchii (Type of spruce tree) – Plant (tree) – Qinling Range, China – Unknown numbers * Pinus squamata (Qiaojia pine) – Plant (tree) – Qiaojia, Yunnan, China – < 25 * Poecilotheria metallica (Gooty tarantula / Metallic tarantula / Peacock tarantula / Salepurgu) – Spider – Nandyal and Giddalur, Andhra Pradesh, India – Unknown numbers * Pomarea whitneyi (Fatuhiva monarch) – Bird – Fatu Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia – 50 * Pristis pristis (Common sawfish) – Fish – Coastal tropical and subtropical waters of Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Currently largely restricted to northern Australia – Unknown numbers * Hapalemur simus (Greater bamboo lemur) – Mammal (primate) – Southeastern and southcentral rainforests of Madagascar – 500 * Propithecus candidus (Silky sifaka) – Mammal (primate) – Maroantsetra to Andapa basin, and Marojeju Massif, Madagascar – 100–1,000 * Psammobates geometricus (Geometric tortoise) – Reptile – Western Cape Province, South Africa – Unknown numbers * Pseudoryx nghetinhensis (Saola) – Mammal – Annamite mountains, on the Viet Nam – PDR Laos border – Unknown numbers * Psiadia cataractae – Plant – Mauritius – Unknown numbers * Psorodonotus ebneri (Beydaglari bush-cricket) – Insect – Beydaglari range, Antalaya, Turkey – Unknown numbers * Rafetus swinhoei (Red River giant softshell turtle) – Reptile – Hoan Kiem Lake and Dong Mo Lake, Viet Nam, and Suzhou Zoo, China – 3 * Rhinoceros sondaicus (Javan rhino) – Mammal (rhino) – Ujung Kulon National Park, Java, Indonesia – < 100 * Rhinopithecus avunculus (Tonkin snub-nosed monkey) – Mammal (primate) – Northeastern Vietnam – < 200 * Rhizanthella gardneri (West Australian underground orchid) – Plant (orchid) – Western Australia, Australia – < 100 * Rhynchocyon spp. (Boni giant sengi) – Mammal – Boni-Dodori Forest, Lamu area, Kenya – Unknown numbers * Risiocnemis seidenschwarzi (Cebu frill-wing) – Insect (damselfly) – Rivulet beside the Kawasan River, Cebu, Philippines – Unknown numbers * Rosa arabica – Plant – St Katherine Mountains, Egypt – Unknown numbers, 10 sub-populations * Salanoia durrelli (Durrell’s vontsira) – Mammal (mongoose) – Marshes of Lake Alaotra, Madagascar – Unknown numbers * Santamartamys rufodorsalis (Red crested tree rat) – Mammal (rodent) – Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia – Unknown numbers * Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis (Red-finned blue-eye) – Fish – Edgbaston Station, central western Queensland, Australia – 2,000–4,000 * Squatina squatina (Angel shark) – Fish – Canary Islands – Unknown numbers * Sterna bernsteini (Chinese crested tern) – Bird – Breeding in Zhejiang and Fujian, China. Outside breeding season in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand. – < 50 * Syngnathus watermeyeri (Estuarine pipefish) – Fish – Kariega Estuary to East Kleinemonde Estuary, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa – Unknown numbers * Tahina spectabilis (Suicide palm / Dimaka) – Plant – Analalava district, north-western Madagascar – 90 * Telmatobufo bullocki (Bullock’s false toad) – Amphibian (frog) – Nahuelbuta, Arauco Province, Chile – Unknown numbers * Tokudaia muenninki (Okinawa spiny rat) – Mammal (rodent) – Okinawa Island, Japan – Unknown numbers * Trigonostigma somphongsi (Somphongs’s rasbora) – Fish – Mae Khlong basin, Thailand – Unknown numbers * Valencia letourneuxi – Fish – Southern Albania and Western Greece – Unknown numbers * Voanioala gerardii (Forest coconut) – Plant – Masoala peninsula, Madagascar – < 10 * Zaglossus attenboroughi (Attenborough’s echidna) – Mammal – Cyclops Mountains, Papua Province, Indonesia – Unknown numbers

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  • A Wisp of Frozen Breath

    A Wisp of Frozen Breath

    Pack moves as one shadow.
    Scents write stories in the air.
    Silence howls through teeth.

    Wolf
    What’s for lunch?

    The air bites my nostrils, sharp and clean—a thousand stories carved into ice crystals. I taste the forest before I see it: the musk of a sleeping vole three paw-lengths beneath the snow, the sour tang of last week’s elk carcass rotting under a spruce, the sharp warning of a rival pack’s urine marking the eastern ridge. My world is written in scent, each breath a page turned. 

    Snow crunches beneath my paws, a rhythm syncopated with the others. My pack moves as one shadow, our breath pluming silver in the twilight. The moon is a pale smudge behind clouds, but I do not need it. My eyes drink the dark, painting the forest in strokes of indigo and charcoal. The trees are skeletal sentries, their branches clawing at a sky heavy with silence. To you, this would be blindness. To me, it is clarity. 

    A whine ripples through the pack—”Young One”, restless, her paws too loud. “Mother” answers with a low chuff, a sound that vibrates in my ribs. We do not waste words. Our voices are layered: the flick of an ear, the tilt of a muzzle, the cadence of our howls that stitch the horizon together. When we sing, the mountains sing back. Distance means nothing. 

    Then—”there”. 

    A thread of warmth unspools in the cold. Musk. Salt. Fear. It floods my sinuses, vivid as a scream. My mouth waters; my muscles coil. The scent is a map: “hind leg favoring the left… young moose, separated… half a mile north, where the pines thicken”. The pack feels it too. Shoulders tense. Tails lift, quivering. 

    “Now”, says the wind. “Now”. 

    We move like smoke. Snow muffles our steps, but the prey’s heartbeat thunders in my skull. My vision narrows to nothing but the chase. The forest blurs into streaks of shadow and movement. I taste the moose’s panic now, sour and bright, a spark against the cold. The pack fans out, a crescent moon of teeth and intent. 

    “Closer.” 

    The world shrinks to the heat of running blood, the sound of crunching snow, the electric tang of “almost”. My legs are fire. My pulse is a drum. 

    And then— 

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  • The shadow self

    The shadow self

    There’s something peculiar about shadows that I never noticed until that Tuesday afternoon in September. I was sitting at my usual coffee shop, the one where the barista always remembers to make my americano with exactly three ice cubes, when I saw it behaving strangely.

    The simple shadow of a beach tree on my garage wall.

    My shadow wasn’t following my movements anymore. When I lifted my cup, it kept its arms firmly planted on the table. When I turned my head to look at the clock on the wall, it continued staring straight ahead. It was subtle at first, like the way you might notice a photograph hanging slightly crooked on a wall but convince yourself it’s just your imagination.

    Me pretending to be an angel

    The thing about shadows is that they’re honest in a way we can never be. They don’t pretend to smile when they’re sad. They don’t hide their true shape behind carefully chosen clothes or practiced postures. They simply are.

    I started watching my shadow more closely after that day. Sometimes, late at night, I’d catch it dancing when I was perfectly still, or reaching for things I’d been wanting but was too afraid to grasp. It was as if it knew all my secrets, all the desires I’d buried so deep I’d forgotten they were there.

    One morning, I found a note on my desk written in a hand that looked like mine but wasn’t quite right. It said: “I am what you are when no one is watching. I am the you that exists in empty rooms and dark corners. I am the truth you hide from the world.”

    The strange thing wasn’t finding the note. The strange thing was realizing that every word was true.

    Now, whenever light falls across my path and stretches my shadow long and dark against the ground, I wonder which one of us is more real – the carefully constructed person I present to the world, or that dark silhouette that moves with its own will and knows every truth I’ve ever tried to hide.

    Sometimes, in the moments between sleeping and waking, I think I can feel us merging – the shadow and I – like water flowing into water. But then morning comes, and once again, we are separate: me walking through the world, and my shadow dancing just at the edge of sight, reminding me of everything I could be if I just dared to face it directly.

    The barista at my coffee shop doesn’t make me americano anymore. She says I never ordered one. She says I’ve been ordering black coffee, straight and bitter, every day for years. Maybe my shadow knew this all along.

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  • A Journey Through Time

    A Journey Through Time

    A place of learning and spirituality, where
    the holy brothers lived lives of prayer and
    study, now ruins to roam.

    Arched Shadows at Llanthony Priory
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    Llanthony Priory is a historic monastery located in the beautiful countryside of Monmouthshire, Wales. Founded in the 12th century, this impressive architectural masterpiece has a rich history that spans over 900 years.

    The priory was founded by a group of Augustinian canons in the year 1108, and it was dedicated to St. David, the patron saint of Wales. The priory was built on the site of a previous Celtic monastery, which had been established in the 6th century.

    The priory was an important center of learning and spirituality in its time, and it was home to a community of monks who devoted their lives to prayer and study. The monks were also responsible for the care and maintenance of the priory, which included farming and crafting valuable goods such as illuminated manuscripts and architectural elements.

    Over the centuries, the priory experienced a number of ups and downs. It was damaged during the Welsh Revolt of 1136, and it was later seized by the English Crown in the 13th century. Despite these setbacks, the priory remained a significant religious and cultural center in Wales.

    Today, the ruins of Llanthony Priory stand as a testament to its long and fascinating history. The site is now a popular tourist destination, and visitors can explore the remains of the monastic buildings and learn about the priory’s rich history. The priory is also home to a number of important events throughout the year, including concerts, festivals, and cultural events.

    Llanthony Priory is a must-see destination for anyone interested in history, architecture, or the spiritual life. Its beautiful setting and rich history make it a truly special place that is sure to leave a lasting impression on all who visit.

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