Poem: "My Old Friend"

This poem came out of the January 2021 Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from alexseanchai. It also fills the "Spring" square in my 1-3-21 card for the Fresh Starts Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred, ng_moonmoth, janetmiles, and edorfaus. It belongs to the Monster House series.


"My Old Friend"


The lurking shadow
sees the world from
a different perspective ...

... and so do a few other folks.

Blackness is good.

That which is black
absorbs what is useful,
collects heat to savor
when the air grows cold.

Night is necessary.

Everything needs
time to rest, to recharge,
and in the midnight hours,
the white blossoms open
to attract moths and bats.

Shadows are soothing.

They whisper to each other,
softening the sharp edges
into silk and velvet.

Darkness is protective.

It hides the hunted
from the hunters
and befuddles those
who give chase.

In spring, they come
back outside after
a winter spent
huddling indoors.

The lurking shadow
knows them well,

the ones who seek
the dark edges because
for them the light is dangerous --

the ones who are too different
for the other humans to tolerate.

The lurking shadow knows
gays and lesbians, short kids,
fat kids, transfolk and nonbinaries,
aces who don't want to "park"
like the other teens, geeks
and freaks and all the rest.

Soft shadows embrace them
when they seek refuge,

and flow over tree roots and
potholes in front of their pursuers.

Darkness is protective.