The Thinginthecorner arrived quite unexpectedly
One evening,
And made itself at home.
It was an odd, reddish thing,
With fangs, and claws,
But it kept them well hidden.
It slept on an old jumper and never snored.
Never made a sound, really.
It was just… There.

One day, the Thinginthecorner
Began to speak.
But it spoke in a language I didn’t understand,
Although now, it’s hard to forget.
Slowly, we learned to communicate,
And realized that sometimes words lie to us.
We spoke nearly every night,
In our own way.

The Thinginthecorner and I became
Close friends;
It came with me everywhere I went.
It stopped sleeping on the jumper
And slept at the bottom of my bed,
Near my toes,
Instead.

But it dreamed strange dreams,
The Thinginthecorner,
And it kicked me in its sleep.
And its claws,
However well hidden,
Left deep scratches in my skin.

So it sleeps on the floor again,
The Thinginthecorner.
It’s been asleep for a long time.
Maybe it died,
I’m not sure.
But I’ll just leave it near the door,
In case it wants to go
And is too polite to say so.