What beasts reside in grottos deep Where dawnless deathly shadows hide Pale nocturnal slugmites creep Ghost-dancing serpents slide Where musty mildewed madness dwells Eternal pits crave midnight snacks The mouth gapes wide but never tells What lurks in caves or cracks What twilight gnomish beasts we fear Who wait concealed until tis night Whose scraping furtive tracks we hear Then vanish come the light Whose full-moon amber stares we heed The wolf-howl wind their wail From cactus tooth and claw we bleed Down some enchanted trail Wherein lies mist and graveyard gloom The heart betrays us loud or still As we expect to meet our doom Yet there least likely will At trembling hours of ghoul and ghost We heroes stand more tall For facing that which scares us most May banish monsters all. Copyright © 2007 Lori Lopez, All Rights Reserved.