They can't fool me

I Know What It Was

They said it was just

an owl in the tree

but they didn’t

fool me.

I saw teeth

not a beak,

red eyes

not gold,

and I won’t be told

it was only

fluff and feathers

round its throat;

it was a collar

and those weren’t wings

but silky folds

of a black,black cloak.

It was no

Too-wit, too woo

I heard

It was

I’ll get you-ou!

                                                              Patricia Leighton