Not a third that walks beside me, br But five or six or more. br Whether at dusk or daybreak br Or at blinding noon, a retinue br Of shadows that no door br Excludes.--One like a kind of scrawl, br Hands scrawled trembling and blue, br A harelipped and hunchbacked dwarf br With a smile like a grapefruit rind, br Who jabbers the way I do br When the brain is empty and tired br And the guests no longer care: br A clown, who shudders and suddenly br Is a man with a mouth of cotton br Trapped in a dentist's chair. br br Not a third that walks beside me, br But five or six or more: br One with his face gone rotten, br Most hideous of all, br Whose crutches shriek on the sidewalk br As a fingernail on a slate br Tears open some splintered door br Of childhood. Down the hall br We enter a thousand rooms br That pour the hours back, br That silhouette the walls br With shadows ripped from war, br Accusing and rigid, black br As the streets we are discolored by. br The crutches fall to the floor. br br Not a third that walks beside me, br But five or six, or more br Than fingers or brain can bear-- br A monster strung with guts, br A coward covered with hair, br Matted and down to his knees, br Murderers, liars, thieves, br Moving in darkened rows br Through daylight and evening air br Until the eyelids close, br Snapped like the blades of a knife, br And your dream of their death begins. br Possessors and possessed, br They keep the bedside wake br As a doctor or a wife br Might wait the darkness through br Until the pale daybreak-- br Protectors of your life.