Summer Nights Long Ago Poem by Tracy WatsonBrown

Remember when you would be sent to bed
The sky dark blue, and a faint glow on the horizon.
You lay with your window open but light off.
You took the risk of moths and daddy long legs
Fluttering in like some malign fairy
To rob you of your peace.
You pushed the covers off, lay quite still,
And waited for the slightest of breezes
To stroke your hot skin,
And you turned your pillow
To get the cool side.
And you listened to the cry of peacocks,
And the bats swooped past your window,
And the gentle roar of lions rocked you to sleep.