Bat by Rebecca Clark--In honor of our first bat returning this spring

I walk towards our house

after dusk has covered the yard

and through the open windows

I hear a sharp yelp from our daughter.

I look up to the stairwell window

where I see the silhouette of a bat

flashing across the walls. Inside the house,

the sound of your laughter echoes

behind the living room door

as you try to lasso its beating wings

with a green and yellow afghan.

Its wild aerobatics finally subdued

and rolled up into an acrylic ball, you rush

out into the now-black night and like magic,

its fluttering wings dissolve

into stars.