I Am A Bat

by Rudi Matic

 

I am a bat.
You do not hear,
Human, my shriek,
For human ears
Are not attuned
To its high tones;
But my brethren
In their bones
Feel it shiver
And respond
As it quivers
Far beyond
My dark throat
And off the
Things around us
Showing me
All the world
My eyes would spy,
With its echo;
Thus I fly.
Off the treetop,
Barn and steeple,
The cave walls,
And the people,
Rings return
And are my eyes.
But when silenced,
Voiceless, we
Strike and shatter
As we bound;
On walls tattered;
Spinning down.
Pleasing some,
For our black wings
Frighten those
Who fear black things.
But then the vermin
Whom we ate
Begin to
Proliferate;
And devour,
Where we but sang.
Human, you
Shall miss us then.