MENAGERIE

I have welcomed
odd creatures
into the fold
at night:
.
sharp-eye birds of prey
who carry me to the wars
and the death of all weakness
there is no softness in their world
only the knife-edged line
between the wrong
and the one true right
.
hooded reptile with veiled eyes
always the devil's advocate
between the world's way
and the way I mean to suffer
.
small, shivering creatures
with great blind eyes
they fear the day
they are paralyzed
in the gaze
of their unknowing
and trapped
as they have begged
and begged
and known beggar's despair--
.
and
the beast of burden
slow
with downcast eyes
unaware
that the way
is
LIGHT: