Love Poem for
the Short-Tailed Bat

You have never seen the short tailed bat
because it comes out at night
when your curtains are closed
and the TV is on.
It can walk as well as fly.
It has sturdy legs to help it balance
along branches as it sniffs for insects.
I have never seen the short tailed bat.
Except dead in a museum case
and in photographs that made me stare
and stare.