THE NIGHT WALKERS
The Night Walkers Once, I lived the nights Where the moon paired with burning wood To help an aging old man tell his tales Of times when they were blazing like fire And glowed like the moon. Once, I lived the nights Where my maesters shared stories Of the night walkers The terrors and bad omens they brought, And the messages they left behind. They said they came as men, They said they came as women, They came to leave omens, They said they came as animals, They said they came as the wind. But I have lived the night Where the night walkers were no destroyers. They were drunk men staggering home, Women; ancestors with calabashes in search of water. Their messages were acts that screamed privacy. The animals were flying owls, Active crabs, busy by the wall, making new homes. They were black male cats with glowing eyes, Visiting their white partners with drowsy gazes, with meows that made their “catish” sultry. The wind was the sea breeze, Running free, sweeping through the surface. ...