One dark cloudy night, a man with a lamp,
Set out on his own in the cold and damp.
Wearing nothing but a gown and a churlish frown,
He took four steps and then he fell right down.
As he sat and he wept, a creature crept,
Woken by the fall of the man as it slept.
The man looked up and was astonished and amazed,
As the creature grew bigger and its paws it raised.
The man jumped up as if startled by a gun,
And about on his heels he began to run.
Not knowing where to go or where to turn,
He ran and he ran ‘till his feet did burn.
When far away on the edge of town,
Only then did the man slowly look around.
There was no creature, no fiend of the night,
It was only his shadow that had given him fright.
(C) Peter Anpil, 2009
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