Thing . . .

crawling, crawling, underneath,
beady eyes, snarling teeth,

moving, moving, coming near,
you never see,
you never hear,

creeping, creeping, just below,
you would not think,
you would not know,

climbing, climbing, very close,
long of tongue,
long of nose,

it will get you, if it can,
be you woman,
child or man. . .

1978