Superstitious

A poem about the innate fears that make us human.

When the clouds that you knew
Once painted a royal hue
Fade to crooked swirls
Of smoky alabaster

A baneful black cat
Emerges from the dark
Eyes piercing like twin daggers
Whiskers arched

It slinks beneath a ladder--in pursuit
You run.
Faces pass you, the world's a blur
Try to escape it, attempt to evade it
Without getting hurt
By its black magic treachery,
Its forthcoming tragedy

Then you hear the sharp noise
Of broken glass all around
In avoiding the hellcat, you knocked
A woman's compact mirror to the ground

7 years, mounting fears
Stumbling home as you wonder
What evils will surface
From your latest blunder

CRASH!
Goes the potted plant fallen out
Of the 13th story window
It barely missed you!
Bits of porcelain and earth kissed you
Nearly made your wife a widow.

Scurrying home past the old faded park
As a torrent of ice-rain
Touches down, makes its mark
Seek your shelter,
"Ah thank God!
A tree--safe at last!"
Oh, but what's this slipping past
Your white cotton shirt?

The acid sap of the toxic Manchineel
Your luck, just as bitter...how does it feel?