Flashlight quivers
among wood's black
bars. My daughter
calls for her cat,
a brittle arthritic
remnant of childhood.
A coyote scoots
through brush.
A horned owl hoots
from sky's shadows.
She calls kitty
kitty, her last
grasps at kittens
and stuffed toys
before turning off
the flashlight and
entering a door
into adulthood.