Night

Darkness like a woven tapestry black,
Wrapping the world on a new-moon night
Pierced by a single brave stab,
Above the horizon, of a single star's light.
Atop a mountain, a gigantic bulk
Of deeper black, against a sable sky,
Among trees with shadowed trunks,
Dream-like bats on shadowy wings go by.
Shadows lurk in the darkest corners
Of a dark, bewitched forest glade -
Shadows with claws and fangs and fur,
Whose movements disturb not a single blade.
Moss-hung branches, in oaken groves,
Meet velvet branches on antlered heads.
For fear of stag's thundering hooves,
Many a forest patriarch it's verdant robe sheds.
Large eyes peer out of leafy retreats -
Awake, alert, in ghostly vision.
Twoo-whit, twoo-whoo - the ghastly shriek
Puts all creatures to confusion.
Creatures all of hideous darkness,
Inhabiting a new-moon night –
Predators and prey of a forest primeval,
Disappearing at dawns first light.