By Hasya Fatiha
(Nature poetry contest)
We gather outside the Deer Cave
Hoods of our raincoats flipped up
Posing for pictures
As the tour guide drones on.
The overwhelming smell of guano
The sound of trickling water.
And within the rank darkness,
The wings of three million bats shudder.
We laugh and jostle and threaten to
Push each other into the bottomless pit of bat poop
“Shush or you’ll wake the bats!”
Isn’t that the whole point?
Later at dusk
We sit on the grass and wait
“Oooh, here they come!”
A trail of bats.
Out of the chimney, they rise
An undulating wave of black specks
Clicking and squeaking in harmony
Like a perfectly conducted orchestra.
We look up into the silver sky,
Mesmerized.
And for once
We are quiet.
