Creature Fear

CROW’S VANITY

Looking close in the evil mirror Crow saw
Mistings of civilizations towers gardens
Battles he wiped the glass but there came

Listings of skyscrapers webs of cities
Steaming the glass he wiped it there came

Spread of swamp ferns fronded on the listings
A trickling spider he wiped the glass he peered

For a glimpse of the usual grinning face

But it was no good he was breathing too heavy
And too hot and space was too cold

And here came the misty ballerinas
The burning gulfs the hanging gardens it was eerie

—Ted Hughes, from Crow