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Defeating the Night
Sit down my young one
For now you shall hear
The tale of the Ashmite,
Made to you clear.
Deep in the night,
The moon shines upon
Mysterious creatures
Which flee with the dawn,
Creatures not you nor I
Can describe
For no one has seen them—
No one alive.
Imagine my young one
What we might see
If we walked in the night
Just you and me.
Imagine numerous eyes,
Each a wicked spark.
Imagine hungry teeth
Which glisten in the dark.
Imagine legs and tentacles
Skittering across the grounds.
Imagine howls and growls
And even stranger sounds.
Gaze at the shadows
And see the darkness move
In ways that nothing of the light
Could mimic or approve.
The Ashmite, though small,
Is powerfully vicious.
The Ashmite, though timid,
Heroically ambitious.
The Ashmite, though brave,
Cannot bide the night,
So she hides from the creatures
Which delight in her fright.
The Ashmite takes cover
Within her small sphere,
Buried beneath comfort
Of softness and cheer.
She pulls closed the curtains
Over night-darkened glass,
Then listens to stories
‘Til sleep takes her fast.
But the time must soon come
When the Ashmite defends
The place where she sleeps
And plays with her friends.
She tires of monsters
That lurk in the night.
She tires of whispers
Which threaten the light.
“Nothing of darkness,”
The Ashmite is told,
“Can live in the hearts
Of the true and the bold.”
“The brave are not brave
‘Til they face their own fears.”
So the Asmite breaths deep
And wipes off her tears.
As she lies down to sleep,
She looks through the window
Seeing beasties peek back,
Their eyes all aglow.
They tap on the glass
And scratch at the wall,
Not letting her ‘scape
From their tormenting call.
But remembering loved ones
Watch over her bed,
She imagines her heart
As a light that is shed.
She’ll walk through the night,
Leaving light where she walks.
Turning the tables,
Now the creatures she stalks.
The battle for grace
From the monsters she dreams
Will lead to more terrors
And nights filled with screams.
Most nights she will think
That she’ll never get away,
That the monsters will follow her
Into the day.
