Have you ever seen a shape in the dark but couldn’t quite make out what it was? Maybe you caught something out of the corner of your eye—a shadow, a lump, a blur—and for just a second your imagination ran wild.

This time of year, even though the days are starting to get a little longer, it’s still winter. It’s still the darkest season. The sun rises late. The evenings stretch on. And when the light is low, ordinary things can look… not so ordinary.

Just this morning, I glanced across the room and thought I saw a black cat sitting perfectly still. On second look, it turned out to be a wastebasket. I’ve done that more than once; seen something indistinct and, before my brain could catch up, imagined all sorts of ominous possibilities.

So I decided to write a poem about that feeling. About spotting something you can’t quite identify… something that seems to move when you move… something that stays just out of sight. When you don’t know what you’re looking at, your imagination is happy to fill in the blanks, and it doesn’t always choose the most comforting answer. I hope you enjoy it. This is…

It Followed Me to School Today

It followed me to school today.

I couldn’t see it clearly.

I started walking faster.

I felt a rush of panic, thinking

At last, I stumbled into school.

It followed me back home from school.

I’d better go tell mom and dad.

— Kenn Nesbitt