in praise & fear of sasquatch hunters 

their heat vision goggles
peering at the red in us.
a patch of light in a tree. a smudge 
of squirrel. dad & i sit in a room 
empty of everything but the TV. 
white walls no-- green walls
no-- chameleon walls. walls changing colors 
to our moods. a mood ring wrapped around 
my heart snug & tight. on the TV we watch
a live stream from the sasquatch hunters. 
dad kneels & prays. 
i press my hands together. the hunters
rise early in the morning. 
they eat only the meat of strong animals:
bear & geese & cockroaches. 
the hunters never speak to each other 
so as to keep their focus 
on the endless hunt. dad believes 
in monsters. he sets a bear trap
in the yard. he places mouse traps
all along the walls of the room. 
we have just this one room to share
& who knows what is outside.
outside could be anything
like a serpent of asphalt or 
a headlight monster. i trust only
what i see on TV. the TV is honest
& delivers us the truth. a moving image.
men with technology. they plot an attack 
on the sasquatch. we watch intently 
the sasquatch never comes. 
after long days of watching them 
hunt the sasquatch we lay down 
on separate sides of the room.
flat blank floor. i feel the edges of my bones.
i consider the sasquatch 
& what he is plotting even now 
as the night beat its wings.
pausing i look at the hairs 
on the backs of my hands. the hair 
engulfing my legs. i find a sasquatch 
perched here inside my bones.
i look at my father & his broad shoulders 
& his hunger for leaves. 
watching him sleep, i convince myself
he is surely a sasquatch too.
this is where my sasquatch came from.
the TV turns on by itself.
just static. i am so so scared.
where will we go? where will we hide?
the hunters are always waking. 
i trace my teeth with my finger.
i curl up into a fist. the room dangles 
far away from everything. dangles from a treeth branch.
we are safe. we are just swallows.
we are just voles, i say. 
i stay awake all night.
the sun in our single window
is blue with its heat. when dad wakes 
i ask him, "are we monsters?"