Shadows

Night descends on hamlet small,

Quiet fills the empty halls,

Stars emerge in darkened skies,

Winking with their silvery eyes.

Children have been laid in bed,

After stories grand are read,

And the lamps all dimmed have been,

As windows rattle in the wind.

At the strike of five past two,

Something stirs in each bedroom,

Rising in the dimness cast

By walls, and doors, and hallways vast.

For, at such times here and there, 

Shadows wake from year to year,

Leaving for one evening, so,

Their masters made of flesh and bone.

Close to walls they float and glide, 

(Light they cannot long abide),

Through the street, ‘neath roofs and eaves

They whisper soft, like falling leaves.

To the faery hollow they

Wend their silent, wispy way,

There to dance, and merry make

Through the night, ’til break of day.

There, beneath the shade of pines

Do the Shadows feast and dine

And drink their punch from acorn caps,

And sip on dew from starlit flax.

Alas, the sun will rise ‘ere long,

And cast his rays upon the throng;

So, long before the light of day

The Shadows hence must make their way

Back to their creatures, ‘ere they wake,

(For bonds to Shadows thus do break),

And be companions through their lives,

Except for these enchanted nights.