Devils in the Details

Devil in the Details

Out of the closet, door creaking ajar,

Fugly things gaze out of a Mason jar;

Seeking comforting shadows from afar,

Their myopic eyeballs can't reach that far.

With bright city lights all over the globe

There's too little unknown left to probe.

After dark, darkness steps on its own robe - 

That clumsy cat has bells on each earlobe!

Sharpening dirty nails on crooked teeth,

These horrors can't wait to drag their own feet;

Marching, tongue-in-cheek for a treat or trick - 

Hangry souls set to do as they see fit.

(But… They can't see sh*t… Our streets are TOO lit!)

Footnotes:

1. The Mason jar is alluding to a poison jar - "A mythical, venomous substance from ancient Chinese folklore, traditionally created by trapping venomous creatures like snakes, centipedes, and scorpions in a jar to fight and devour each other until only one survived. The survivor's body was then used to create a powerful poison, a key element in black magic practices used for manipulation, causing illness, or death. This is also found in Japanese folklore." (Lazy explanation source: Google)

2. Yes, "hangry," as in a combination between "angry" and "hungry."

Short Author's Note:

I wrote this poem as an answer to The Scriber's Nook photo prompt I randomly came across on Medium. Initially, I planned to write a poem for each of the six photos provided, but none of them were particularly inspiring to me, so I struggled greatly.

You just can't force inspiration.

PS: Two non-English words used in a proper context (explaining a foreign ritual) were removed because, apparently, Vocal flags the whole story as "written in a language other than English" if you do that. At least that's what I hope the issue was.