things that go bump in the night

Sometimes I used to,
sleepwalking,
tripping out of bed,
opening windows, pushing screens
from their moorings, letting white moths
come in, and mosquitoes. I'd wake curled
in the closet, the pattern of the rug stung
into the skin of my face, my spine cramped,
my fingers bitten.

Vampires, of course, but only
on purpose, when they want to scare you.
They're too graceful to trip,
and can fly, besides. You have to let them in,
but they can look like bats, or friends, or white moths
so you won't know what they are until it's too late.
And they have hypnotic voices, besides, and mesmerizing
eyes. It's not a rule that can keep you safe.

But vampires
are so trendy these days. They're not scary
like they used to be. They play in punk rock bands.
They worry about their love lives.
They go to fifth period geometry
and doodle human circulatory systems and pierced hearts
in the margins of their black notebooks.
They live in apartments.
They wear silk.
They pour your coffee at diners.
Their fingernails are clean.
Vampires don't mean unbridled,
unrestrained, unapologetic, all-encompassing
hunger
anymore. We have zombies for that, now.
We make new monsters.
I suck the blood from my own fingertips
and I sleep on my back till the windows leak light.



(for Sunday Scribblings.)