Bats

I remember summer evenings,
Sitting on the porch steps together
Watching dusk fade into night.
Then all of a sudden down the driveway
Came a mass of bats flapping and lurching,
Racing outward for their nightly travels.
Just as suddenly it was over
And we sat and talked while the stars came out.

I remember the first time I learned
(From a friend's horrified expression)
That bat-watching wasn't considered normal.
And then I remember realizing
We were not quite normal in other ways too.
Normal is important to teenagers.

Later I grew up and understood
That normal is a fictional concept,
At least where families are concerned.
And my children now would consider it cool
To have bats flying down the driveway at night.


~ Tamary Shoemaker
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(From a prompt at NaPoWriMo to write a poem using "I remember" three times.)