1
At first, it fell
A gentle rain,
A few drops at a time.
It whipped, and split, and tore horizontal,
slanting through the sky.
Rain-soaked rooftops, clothing, people,
all in inky black
For weeks the rain bore down
Sidewalks crumbled, split, and cracked.
No sun. No moon. No stars.
The storm burned away the veil
And when it cleared, we felt relief
Those who survived the bitter gale.
We kissed, We hugged, We danced,
In golden sun and grey blue sky…
But then the children
of the town
stopped sleeping
stood screaming
through the night.
Whispered of something coming for them
dressed in robes of gold and white,
tapping on locked windows,
with jagged claws, and hollow eyes.
We rocked the Children close,
and held them near.
(It’s your imagination,
we whispered, gently in their ears)
And even when their scars appeared,
we promised love. we promised comfort. we promised protection.
And that was our mistake.
2
—
The Children gathered in the meadow.
At sunrise,
called out to the darkness in the sky.
Collected weapons from our houses.
Hot irons, pokers, axes, knives.
We joined forces with the neighbors
to protect them from these lies
to protect them from their madness
to distract them from their cries.
That’s when they started changing.
Chanted in whispers in the night.
Boarded up their windows.
Stood guard until sunlight.
When we’d had enough of their defiance
we dragged them to their beds.
We forced them beneath the covers.
Kissed them on their foreheads.
We closed their eyes and waited.
Organized their rooms so they were neat.
Turned off lamps.
Nightlights.
And flashlights.
Blew out candles so they could sleep.
And when the wind came scratching
we left them to their beds.
No weapons no light to protect them
as we let the scratching in.
3
—
They whispered to the wind.
They forced themselves asleep.
No longer did they beg for us,
No longer did they scream.
On the next day, they sat reading.
At night, they went to bed.
Stayed close.
And loved.
And laughed.
Played games.
And let each other win.
We made their favorite dinners
Played with their favorite dolls.
Gathered around the fireplaces.
Raced up and down the halls.
This time when nighttime fell
they appeared standing next to our beds.
Bandages over tearing skin and new claws,
As we dragged them to their rooms again.
On this night, they fought us,
Ran past us in the halls.
Slammed the front doors open.
And let the nighttime call.
We demanded that they sleep.
But no longer would they wait for us
no longer would they rest.
When next, the nighttime came
they had all vanished from their beds.
We marched out, at night, to find them.
We searched the
playgrounds
schools
and halls.
Searched every yard and tree house
to bring them back where they belonged.
That’s when a woman
paid a visit
Brought us news of their escape.
Hiding one town over.
Together.
But we felt we must prevail.
4
—
We marched down to that town’s meadow.
Begged them not to fight
Warned them they’d only endanger
this new town.
Asked them to return with us in sunlight.
—
They held their weapons firm
And we readied for the fight.
—
They stepped forward.
Handed us their weapons
and demanded
that we take their lives.
—
We stood frozen.
They stepped in closer and waited.
As the rainfall came again.
—
This time we took no shelter.
This time there was no storm.
We looked into their eyes.
And we split off one by one.
—
They built forts in that new town.
And from there on they faced
the night alone.
—
(From miles away we heard them laughing.
We were grateful for the sound.)
And the next time that the scratching came
We were what the darkness found.
—
This time there was no shelter.
This time there was no storm.
And the next time that the scratching came
We were what the darkness found.
|© 2020. Text & Recording. Written by Nika Patrice. All Rights Reserved.
You must be logged in to post a comment.