She spent the night alone with body bruised and skirts asunder
He found his sister in the morning, soaking, in a puddle
"Let's run away," she said "He beats us both incessantly!
I know a place beneath the city where we'll stay forever lost!"

"I've seen the waifs emerge from the underground
They roam the catacombs and everywhere underneath
We could live secretly, away from society!"

Away after sunset they tumbled through the darkened city
searching for cold grates and bars agape
like twisted teeth and jawbones pulled wide and cracking
Wet and talking wind forbade them!
"Just shut your ears," she said
"Orphans are surrounded by these things!"

"Hold my hand, I'll lead you below
We'll find an alcove and no one will know about us!
We can live secretly, away from society!"

They wet their tiny kitten paws on rotting rocks and water
They skinned their whiskers digging deep
where darkness settles into corners and tooth-marks,
sightless eyes and sunken ceilings
Sentient depths awoke and noticed them
they started screaming

"Let's hurry back," she said, "before we are swallowed!
Run now, my darling child, I'll be sure to follow closely!
We must hide desperately, away from monstrosities!"

Next week, next year,
there is a somebody who hears their feet underneath
They stop, and tilt, and frown they hear them drowning!
No, the wind singing just below the street

"You're here with me, it's just we two
So if you've died, why, then I have, too!"