Borrowed Children

dark night - jet black - ominous

streetlamps obscured by fog,
creatures walk around in shadows
moving silently through darkness,
unnamed and unseen they crawl
to their destinations, darkened 
by their appearances...  as if
painted on the face for all to see,
and the ones who care are inside
hiding behind the doors, blending
in with the corners that were at
one time rounded, not squared;
we drop coins in the collection
plates for protection but receive
only words of forgiveness...
magnets pull us inside ourselves
as we dare to be outside and the
darkness grows on us like stink
grows on the world around us,
we are refugees in our own homes
as the dark night extends its realm
of influence over our minds and
those of our borrowed children.

January 25, 2024