Red

Post my letter in the dark
Written at night
Can’t leave ‘til morning
Out onto street:

My lucubration must
Be dispatched.

Towards the post box in empty street at night
No one else out
Few cars on the road
Motionless and dark

Beneath street lamps
My shadow appears
And stretches out in front
As I move onwards

Street lamps too far apart
Unavoidably plunged into
Darkness at intervals

Sound makes me flinch
My own footsteps

Post box swathed in darkness
In the darkest region
Only ever a silhouette

As I approach
Nerves tighten
Surge faster a few steps
Piercing silence

Thrust the letter into mouth
Muted clunk signals
The digestion of my communication in the bowels

Gloom is so pervasive in this wretched spot
Red is but a guess

This stygian brute
Stock-still for every visit
Swallows my epistles without
A gulp of thanks

The deed is done
I turn and flee
The moment my back is turned my
Mind conjures wild animism:
The sinister pillar reveals
Luminescent white teeth and glowing red eyes
Sprouts legs and creeps silently after

Never look back –
Like a child in bed
Too afraid to lower the
Sheets covering eyes
And behold what might be

Whistling and humming
To keep myself together
Stride swift and steady back home.