In The Night

by Heather Rae

My breathing halts
on the flick of a switch.
lights out
cept down the hall
a single thread
makes a familiar trail
a dust , falling over
nooks and crannies
that my eyes
strain , just checking
their posts,
in the night.
One leg
cleverly unveiled
yet clenching
the jaw
of the other,
midst sheet and spread,
desperately shrouding
hidden jewels
that no longer
remember to gleam,
dirt lying at the quick,
from endless digging,
hoping to stake
a higher claim,
in the night.
It's never long
before the hush
is lost,
along with my senses,
making the trek
to tug my mother
from sleep,
"just the house settling"
words dropping at my feet
setting their chins
in pouted hands,
an agonizing stance
fails to hold ,
as once too many
agains
i follow the dad
in the night.
Room after room
for the source
of the creaking,
for if I not
darn a dull
witless cloak
on my head,
I'd not be
his hostage
the thing
the goes bump
in the night.
Braced in a corner
as if I'd dare,
my albatross body
well learned.
My throat stretched
without air to
let ride
a silent scream.
Once more
and many after,
snared by the monster
who needn't hide.
Finding my way back,
dragging my worth
behind
wishing I'd found
the darkness stiffled,
a stilling of my tremble,
a speck of solace
in the night.