(A villanelle - an old poetic form with 19 lines and repeating lines.)
Shadows crawl and shadows leap
Nightmares, horrors in the night
Through the darkness as we sleep
Beasts of cruelty slowly creep
Many eyes watching and bright
Shadows crawl and shadows leap
Flesh to eat and souls to reap
Beings made to spread their blight
Through the darkness as we sleep
Twisted creatures from the deep
Up from where there is no light
Shadows crawl and shadows leap
Monsters that would make you weep
As they torment, as they bite
Through the darkness as we sleep
Things you’d see if you would peep
Filling you with dread and fright
Shadows crawl and shadows leap
Through the darkness as we sleep