Things In The Night

Things in the night
That go bump
I have heard
Head under the covers
Thinking, This is absurd!

Surely I'm safe here
And sound in my bed
The things I am hearing
Could not be the dead
Or could they, I wonder
Shivering alone
I pull the blanket under my chin
But when I close my eyes tight again
They dance in my head
Wearing ghastly grins

They taunt me and tease
I shake myself free
Of my minds wild wanderings
Summoning fresh ideas
More bold
Though it's true
I'm not sure they will hold

I decide to pretend
I am not so afraid
Pretend I am sleeping
Pretend I am brave

A mighty wind howls
It whistles through a crack
The curtains fly free
There's no holding back
I let out a scream
That shook the house
My father came running
To see what it was about
"You'll wake the dead!"
He said, turning on the light
Before he closed the window tight

With great satisfaction
I grinned as I noticed
The ghosts I'd imagined
Were clothes instead
The rattling bones
That went bump
In the night
Were the hangers
On which they were hung