Chiroptera

By Laura Bellinger

Apparently, last night
there was a giant hatch.
Thousands of tiny bugs, just specks,
have invaded my Adirondack porch.

I showed my uncle the writhing black mounds
which prompted a conversation about bats.

When I moved into my house 29 years ago
two bats appeared, reliably, every day at dusk.
How I looked forward to those flying foxes!
Sadly, none have appeared for years.
Did you know one flittermouse
can eat up to 1,000 insects an hour?

Uncs relayed his own tale
of when he was renting a house.
He suspected there were bats in the attic,
so he stood outside one night to spy.
He spotted little faces looking out,
then they, enmasse, took to the sky.
He never told;
he was on their side.