We learn the rules:
the garlic by the bedposts and
running water circling the farm,
we read all we can and find
peace in the contradiction
we know they can’t get in without permission
(except when they do)
we know they turn into bats and wolves
or control them, or
are merely bestial at times.
we know that some would claim even
gods and monsters must follow
our flimsy rules,
we know that every city on the earth
must operate on the same basic principles
as Alliance, Ohio
that in Belgium and Dubai
a tossed ball falls equally fast
and the creatures of the night
all fear the cross.
Vaguely Magical Creatures
