Cindy Grade 10
Paws limping and bones frail,
The devil crosses the road and wags its tail.
Trim lawns glisten in the suburban night,
Bloodshot eyes glow beneath the streetlight.
Up the steps, past the picket fence,
The crickets silence and the winds tense.
Inside, the children are talking in the distance,
Mother sets the table, father pretends to listen.
The demon on the porch lets out a whimper,
“Mommy can we keep him?” the boy says in a whisper,
Its body curled into a ball, fur matted, eyes scared,
The mother’s features soften, she has been ensnared.
“Just for the night,” the father warns,
If only they could see its invisible horns.
Late in the night, the house is asleep,
Bitten throats, claws sunk in deep,
Life drains from their eyes before they can scream,
Forever hoping, praying, that it was all a dream.
The dog still thirsty for blood, violence ringing like a bell,
Prowls back onto the streets of suburbia hell.
Elements Magazine 