inherently

last night i dreamt that i was at my family's cabin in the woods of the cape only instead of the peace that i usually feel, there were stray tigers watching us in the night, dark shadows lurking, my father standing outside the door not wearing his glasses with blood on his hands, his face covered in bruises.  it was terrifying.  and i called to my dad and i saw his hand on the screen door, the bloody print it left. 

but when he came inside he was smiling and he lead me out the door to the sky outside and the stars were the brightest i had ever seen and i could see every constellation as clear as it were that iphone app that draws it out for you and the strangers in the woods turned into cousins who have grown their entire lives on the same street as I and the tigers were gone and in their place my sister, my mother, my nana glo.  and the blood print was still on the door and i don't know how my dad had fallen but we just stood there together, he and I, watching the sky and I didn't have to feel even the slightest bit scared (scarred) anymore.