Gathering

by Lauren D.M. Smith

 

Yellow eyes,

Slit pupils,

Stare out from the darkness

 

Leaves that rustle,

Shadows twitch,

No winds blow through the night

 

Escaping,

Clouds move past,

The sliver moon appears

 

A bright line

In dark sky,

The reverse of those eyes

 

Tail swishes slowly,

The eyes stare,

The cat watches you move

 

Another cat,

And another

Come to sit, staring at you

 

Glowing eyes,

Stepping back,

The cats follow you

 

Turning back,

You move away,

Only to find more cats

 

Up in the skeleton

Trees, and on

The roofs of the abandoned houses

 

The cats gaze

Down at you,

Silhouetted against the night.

 

Bushes rustle,

Cats there too.

On the path, claws gouging the earth.

Shining bright,

Against the dark,

A curved menace, hidden by fur.

 

Everywhere

Yellow eyes

Staring straight into you

 

No escape,

Surrounded,

They slink slowly forward…