At Your Service

By Jennifer Everson

At your service I am a bat
Just a mammal with a duty to fill
This ecosystem needs me not a Halloween thrill
You think of me only in late October?
How about the flowers I pollinate?
I spread seeds, control insects, and my guano is hot in the agricultural trade
I try to provide my services despite your scowls and sneers
I am trying to convey you have nothing to fear
We scatter the skies at night to get insects, frogs, and blood
It's not because we are morbid but what we subsist on
I gobble those critters that make your tender children scream
For dessert are mosquitos, toss that insect repellent cream
Your myths and folklore give impressions at my own disgrace
But in some cultures I bring fortune, virtue, and affluent taste
My position in nature's cycle is ghoulishly transparent,
I'm your billion-dollar bug eater,
I'm your money well spent
So, at your next sight of dawn remember
I am on the nighttime shift,
I will be working my magic in the night flying swift.