During

The big demon hit.
The devils let it.
You can’t be little
and not know big.
She sees nothing
nobody else sees.
She thinks all see
what they want to.
She hunkered in
to shelter. Signs
were a bird bent
against the wind,
the dogs roaming
the countryside,
a chorus of voices
shut down, silenced.
The fear on the air
was on her tongue
making no words
easy, as obdurate
as dread, a hush
nobody knows
or will ever know
who was not here.

(29 October 2012)

copyright 2012 by Floyce Alexander