Midnight! Clatter of lids
hinted at his presence.
Prince of Thieves!
Now by the wall, I met
the ferocity of his mask.
An alertness of whiskers bristled,
a strop of tongue lolloped
over the fence of teeth,
the reek and pant of him- so close.
He inspected me with an eye
that dismissed me with a blink.
He turned away unfolding
the life of him in a leap
that left me silent and stilled-
spirit of the woods-
he loped the sunken-road.
melted into the twilight,
flaunting the insult of his tail.
I breathed again. Later that night
he mocked me with a yelp
that pierced the dark and nailed my heart.
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