From The Captain Of The Bats by Jack Veasy

We bats are quite amused
that you think we’re
the blind ones. We mock
how you “look” at life  —  
hear our high chatter?
Even darkness has its anthems;
even distant things
are closer than you think
for those of us who live — yes, luckily —  
at this velocity.

We live
laughing, we
with our dead eyes,
big ears,
and bony wings.

We love the way you doze all night,
then slave all day at desks.
We love the way you duck
behind, or underneath, your arms
when we play pest.

We dance now
through the darkroom sky:
flashback pictures
riding on the moonlight,
leather kites
left from your nightmares.

We hear you there,
you grounded ones
still stumbling on each other,
madly perching,
searching one another’s
eyes, looking for something
you
won’t
find.