The following is a true story... This is the epic tale of a small flying mammal, the towering adversity he unwittingly tripped upon, and the courageous tale of his personal triumph over the challenge. It is a story so powerful, I'm surprised the little guy wasn't invited to give a speech at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. Following the poem, I explain what really happened (from my point of view, this time).
No slumber
The burning sun threatens to peer around the plank
But it cannot sear me
The gap is too narrow
This crevice
My sanctuary
Stranded from my clan, I huddle in isolated darkness
Just barely
The world around burns with the terrible sun's beams
No place for a nocturne
No time to fly
No where to go
This crack is my salvation
No one sees me
I will bide my time
Until the moon rises again in the sky
Tasty insects will fly all around in the cool night air
And I shall make my way home
Never again tardy
As Sol ascends
My compatriots are safe in the barn, the loft, the cave
They hang from the rafters, the granite, the wiring
Their rest unfettered
They will not hear the creaking of hinges
The sun held barely in check on the other face
While I fell behind
They fluttered safely home
Their squealing chirps echoing
off the rocks
the trees
the water
the houses
the asphalt ribbon between here and the city
But I must rest on edge or risk exposure
My inattention my arrogant undoing
Almost night
only 2 hours to go
So hungry
Oh, for a dragonfly or scrap of beetle
So tired
No rest in a day now
Must not let my guard down
A trickle of fouled dew from above
What is this?
A torrent of bitter tears
The bawling of Satan pours over me
and the streams on his face are mostly bleach
It burns my eyes... my face all aflame!
My skin peeling off!
Nothing I can do except face the inferno of light
the photonic storm outside
I flee - my eyes swollen shut from the putrid polluted sludge
that floods them
I rarely use them
And now their lack of significance is an asset
For I never need them anyway
The skin on my arms
is cracked and burned
nearly to the point of disintegration
every pore a pool of lava
Itching, evil stench of Sodium Hypochlorite
Eating my every cell and membrane!
I rip my torso free of my shelter turned prison,
my arms beating the air for dear life
The agony of dried, oxidized flesh
my body screaming
I am reborn
as I am away
burned in the horrible light
my presence plain to all sighted beings
those who walk the accursed day
I am naked in their sight! I am seen!
One burst of speed and the flap of wing
Pulse stabilizing
Homeostasis returning
I am alight
My haste shunning the sun
The rushing air stealing the acid on my body
Sharing a favor it never meant
No differently saving my life
Already my body is begun its healing ritual
Before it is even realized I am home
In the dark
And alive.
-finis-
I was washing my house with a bleach mixture one day this summer, to clean the siding. While doing so, some of the solution ran down behind my shutters. A small brown bat was hiding back there waiting for night, and was either injured by the poison or just startled by it. He stuck his head out, the came all the way out, freaked out a bit, and then flew away. I was somewhat impressed by his (her?) moxie and decided it was worth a poem. (the end).
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