The Jackal

I ascended the stairs, dark
with my heavy torch that sent
a circle of cold light skittering
off the stone walls,
and there in the gloom
the gleam of a slicked tooth:
the snarling red-eyed smile of the jackal.
The torch slipped to dance
back down those lonely stairs,
dragging away its beam
that shone like a crazy sun,
until I was alone in my room
with the beast
whose eyes still glowed, implausibly.