what we’re like

No.22

.

Our confidence ebbs lower at night.

Startled by eyes staring yellow and catlike;

Shiver at scattered packs, backyard howls;

Without boughs, on powerlines, owls.

We’ve surrendered the hour before dawn

Retake it with electric lights and yawning.

Pretend nights are spent idle and dreaming,

Not filled with blood, tiny lives screaming.

Convinced we lock doors for no reason

Yet we act as if Man were in season.

Though nameless, our nemeses imagined;

Though faceless, they are foes of our nation.

But doors don’t keep terror at bay

If we behave like monsters each day.

.

Our confidence ebbs lower at night

Being human, we know what we’re like.

.

No.22

Erik Kaisson, 2017