you never saw such a wretched tree,
standing in the middle of a beautiful, full ivy patch;
the tree was dead,
but had eerie life nesting inside it’s hollow;
quiet during the day in it’s spooky stance,
inside hangs dozens of sleeping fruit bats.

Dusk changed the dynamic and sleepy bats
turned into a plethora of squeaking, hovering
winged creatures that scared my sisters and me,
my older sister told me that if a bat pooped
on my head, I would go bald,
she had me terrified as I ran around
in the darkness, dodging potential hair loss.

Michellia D. Wilson 8/13/2016