The Night Ninja
there’s a toad
untold
that greets me
at the door
I imagine
he has a tiny gold crown
on his tiny toad head
he sits on the threshold
as if he were
royal
for the killer cat
pays him no mind
and the stampede of barking dogs
don’t rattle him
none
his outer stillness
belies the warrior within
I could learn a lot from this here
toad
he’s a simple-type-fellow
that found his way
to my front door
on a night much like tonight
where the chorus of crickets
sing
and the firework fireflies
put on their show
he hopped out of nowhere
up the steps
in the middle of May
drawn to the castle lights
he now dines
like a king
his feast flying in
from near and far
he just sits there
all quiet and calm and still
waiting it out
like a featherweight
in the ring
eyeing an opening
ever light on his feet
and lethal with his punches
he knocks ‘em all out
and then assumes his position
in the middle of the doorway
a small stone statue
between two lights
and I thought the cat
was the Ninja
TL