The Night Has Secrets

The night has secrets and the night has rituals.
We learn its motions and its dark dances.
We learn of all the flickering shadows cast
By its eager fires wanting to taste the dark
With their bright quick tongues.

We learn the sudden sounds that scream out
From the dark echoing silences of the night.
We learn what creeps and we learn what crawls
Hidden behind the shadows in the deep dark.

We know not to step from the path, or to get lost.
We know the names of those who never came home
No matter how long their mothers cried out to the moon.
We know how the stars follow our every step
And all the stories they can tell us.

And we know we will have to wait here
For the slow dawn to come and rescue us.