Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Hoping to Last the Night - Feb 29 2024

 

Hoping to Last the Night

Feb 29 2024



As a child, lying in the dark

I feared the monsters in the closet

under my bed.

So I closed my eyes,

lay as still as possible,

and made myself small

hoping not to be noticed.


Snakes and spiders, of course.

Being orphaned

and a third world war,

back when when the Doomsday clock

was closing in on midnight.


Who would have guessed

that now, a grown-up, I fear so much more.

Because it turns out, the monster was real,

and there are lots of them

disguised in human form.

If only it were spiders and snakes

in place of these monstrosities.


They came out from under the bed

left the closet

but passed over me;

too small to bother with

because they have bigger things in mind.

So I suppose I was right to close my eyes

and hope to last the night.


Too bad there's no escape

from our collective fate

at their grim malevolent hands.

The world has grown darker

and all I can do is wait

and lie as still as possible;

one small powerless man

straining for a glimpse

of morning light

in the hope the darkness will lift.


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