One Night I See Him Poem by Gert Strydom

One night I see him
glaring in through the window
before he sneaks past
and he is totally unaware
of the dog
that noiselessly is following on his heels
with jaws wide open
ready to bite,
while he walks further
with his evil intent

and I am ready with a weapon,
are ready to go out
to face the criminal,
the night-marauder,
with my torch
and when I move
both of the dogs do growl
before they do jump and bite
and that sneaker
does harrowing roar and scream.

When I come out
there is something unpleasant and evil about
when I look into the bloody-red eyes of the tikoloshe
for mere moments I am astonished, do want to shout

silently do pray for the monster to be gone
but curiosity dares me to look and it's the only one
when in vain the dogs do jump, growl and bite
while my heart wants to turn to stone

but quickly he does jump over the six-foot high wall and do escape,
and infatuated I walk up and down in yard looking for the man-ape
but the monster is away, as if it has melted into the night,
and in the distance I hear a woman scream as if she is being raped.