When the darkness comes,
Do not turn or run;
Lest it creep and stalk,
Hiding in stares of mirk and mock

Walk not hurriedly past
When aching arms reach out to you;
For blind bumps and glances can bruise and scar,
Haunt and hate, hunt and hurt!

Try touch the face of dark and dearth
And find your fingers touch nothing there;
Raging ghosts in flailing limbs
Pry with violence triggers of pain

Look straight into the pupil’s eye
And see the seething self of image;
Dare instead to hold the gaze
For shadows scream from clouded mirrors!

tpt 10/2/2015