Nervous Stars

The moonlight was on the water 

Steaming and gleaming 

From the tops of the trees 

And over the surface ripples

Quaking in the breeze 

The little boat rocked gently 

Like a nursery chair 

A owlet called somewhere not far 

And the wind tusseled our hair 

Ever and again 

I pushed it from my eyes 

We heard it then-

The scream of death

As it echoed out from the willow strand 

Thundering over the water 

And crashing into the canoe

We searched the shoreline 

For the eyes in the dark 

And the steaming swirl of breath 

Forever and a day 

We sat in the silence 

No hoot owl called 

No twig snapped underfoot 

Even the water stood at attention 

Still and glassy 

Beneath nervous stars 

All the world stood silent 

Trembling with anticipation-

Until it was not 

And the night birds began anew 

Their ancient joyful chorus 

Death has gone 

My brother said 

His teeth were pearls 

I cast my line out again 

And watched the ebbing swirls 

Then I saw her 

As she crashed onto the water 

Droplets flying over her head 

Bounding and thrashing

She made her way to us 

Her form glowed in the moonlight 

Not fur and not blackness 

A woman's skin 

The curves of her flesh 

Shocking in their lewdness 

The same cry as before 

Crashed like thunder again 

Not of death 

But terror 

Death followed after 

Shrouded in the spray 

Reaching out for her 

As she struggled to us 

I did not see 

Not the barrel 

Nor the flash 

But the terrible sound 

As it ripped through my ears 

Death fell face first into the water 

That lapped at the forlorn shore 

He bobbed on the surface 

His form now a pale mockery 

Of the man who had stood 

Just a moment before