NIGHT GHOSTS

NIGHT GHOSTS

I heard the old clock strike three,
then it struck three once more;
Strange thing to happen, I thought -
but it's happened so often before.

The darkness hovered around me,
I shivered in my old granny gown;
Suddenly I heard footsteps, as if
walking up the hallway and down.

I reached out for the lamp switch
but it didn't work, not at all;
I heard some very strange noises
coming from far down the hall.

The hair on my neck started rising
as I reached for my flannel robe,
I'd set my mind at ease real fast!
I'd find out who was in my abode!

I quietly opened the bedroom door
and took a peek down the hall;
Must have left the radio or TV on,
a simple explanation, that's all!

A chill ran up and down my spine,
as silence met me with each step;
Their try to scare me succeeded,
wish that I could just have slept!

Only three o'clock - two more hours
before dawn would lighten the sky,
If I have to live with night ghosts
I'd like to know the reasons why!

Light from the living room flickered
and there in my old green recliner,
lay the cat - watching the early news:
bad storms down in North Carolina!

The cat jumped almost as high as I
and she ran off down the dark hall -
then I realized that the "footsteps"
were not from an intruder at all!

That darned cat makes quite a racket
when she feels like moving about;
I shut off the TV and went to bed,
imagination now shut down and out!

As I drifted off to sleep again,
a strange thought occurred to me:
How could that cat turn on the light
and just why would she watch TV?

I pulled the covers up around me
and tried to block out the sound
of the wind and creaking shutters
as the night ghosts roamed around.

It seems that I am truly haunted
by night ghosts of old memories,
every night the scene is repeated
when they do just as they please.

Countrymom
9/21/04

Written for Monty's Traditional Poetry Contest