Night Tidings

A jackal cries in the distance And I jolt awake The candle is still awake And my falcon glares at me, one stern, yellow eye keeping me in check. I hurriedly move to snuff out the light, Then I remember... It was a night just like this. Jackals crying, Men shouting and guns firing. Then silence. Four hours of silence. There was a knock on the door and my mother and siblings started crying. And I just new. Daddy wasn’t coming home. Time has passed and we’re okay. There is a whole where my heart was and no-one calls me Daddy’s Little Girl anymore. Nothing is like it was before. I wish I’d told my Daddy not to go. Now he will never see me grow. Every now and again I wake While the sun is hiding. The jackals are crying and the guns are firing. But it’s okay. My husband is here beside me. I tell him every night not to go. Stay away from Night Tidings. Stay safe here with me.