Where Warning Stories End

The grandmother tells the granddaughter

To never walk home alone at night,

And she points out all the shrubbery

That could well be hiding creepy men.

She doesn’t offer a strategy

For what to do about creepy men,

If you ever have to work with one,

Or take classes with a gang of them,

Or discover one’s married a friend,

Or what if someone does assault you,

Or harasses through conversation?

Never walk home alone after dark,

Is as complex as this advice gets,

And, when her granddaughter laughs, she gets

Upset. Now, how does this fable end?

What is the grandmother’s net effect?

Frankly, we don’t know yet, but we know

That the granddaughter and her best friend,

From whose house the grandmother caught her

Walking home after dark this evening,

Straight through that shadowy shrubbery,

Teamed up recently to tease a girl

Just a little bit younger than them

With warning tales of The Hoo Hoo Man.