The Lonely Bat

She lived alone
Upon a hill
In a cave which no light could penetrate.
I often flew by,
Below the hill
And gazed with eyes fixed up
At the hillrop cave
Where lived the lonely bat.
One day,
In flight I met
A beam of light
That called me thence
To the hilltop cave
Where lived the lonely bat.
The ground began to shake
As the stone moved from its place.
"Come in, my friend,"
Said she with a smile.
I looked for long,
Into her eyes
And tears I saw
Fill her eyes.
"Why do you tarry,"
I asked,
"In a place without light?"
" 'T is because I have lost
My heart's only delight,"
Said she with a sob,
"My love has gone,
Never to come back.
That Is why I never go out
And always, I wear black.
I hunt at night
And never by day,
Because though I have tried,
Grief never goes away."
Then I felt
Tears in my own eyes.
I threw my wings around her
And together we cried.
"Come away with me,"
I plead,
"To a place in the sun,
Where you shall be free."
"I dare not fly,
Said she in reply,
"But only at night.
My heart, you see,
Is weakened by light."
"Take my wing,"
I implored,
"And together we"ll soar
Away from this hill
And grief forevermore."
Then one day,
Not long afterward,
On flight I met
The most beautiful dove
That ever I had seen.
She flew up close
And we nuzzled close.
"I am she," said she,
"For whom you took much time."
'T was then I knew,
'T was she who not long 'ere
Had been imprisioned in darkness thence,
In the hilltop cave
Where lived the lonely bat.