As sundown comes

filmy clouds drift

across the blackening canvas

to kiss the star-dappled sky

painted purposefully, perfectly

by One more skilled than any mortal.

On velvet pads

nightlife crawls over wet grasses,

along woody branch,

through their realm

unseen by man

one hundred times as large.

Night falls, I hurry home

switch on lights, close doors

to the cold night air

and imagine the Boogey Man

outside, in the dark,

ready to pounce.

Why fear what I cannot see?

Nocturnal life lives in twilight.

Where I stumble, they are agile,

fleet of foot and wing.

Unblinking amber eyes opened wide,

they survive another day.

Invisible world could teach me to trust,

to open windows and doors,

tiptoe outside, breathe night air,

steal over damp soil,

look under leafy screens,

meet creatures one thousand times as small.

To appreciate lesser inhabitants

may be contrary to human logic,

but to embrace the universal plan

set in motion purposefully, perfectly

by Him eons ago

is worth the endeavor.