Bats
You are pleased to see me
in my gothic T-shirt –
those bats, you say, have been your friends.
Throughout the months you think you’ve been here,
they have perched above your bed,
protectors,
telling you by sonar, not to fear.
Without them, you tell me,
you would have given up
so many times.
Hard to say
whether the bats have clung to you
or you to them,
but it’s good to have some friends
when your world turns upside down.
David Van-Cauter’ is a personal tutor based in Hitchin, Herts. This year he was shortlisted in both the Live Canon and Free Verse competitions. His pamphlet Mirror Lake was published by Arenig in 2019 and a new collection is forthcoming.