NEGOTIUM PERAMBULANS IN TENEBRIS (Psalms 91:5)

Evil has walked whispering in our curtains
and crept into our beds; we have understood
the pulsing eyes of cats, their soft motions,
and the inhuman thumbprint grained in wood.
These have possessed us, haunted our escapes
from frozen dreams, the quietness of gardens,

and immemorial stones in angry shapes.
Evil has walked at noonday in our curtains,
melting the muscle, never darkening
the populous window; steaming from the earth
unseen as air is, tangible as heat.
We have observed in the air, flying feet;
turned from our lives to hear the satyr sing;
hated, and seen the idol hold its breath.