Do you remember the old movie where they called the ship Mother
and asked Mother what to do and cried out to Mother when the monster

slipped through doors before they closed and hid in the walls and
stalked them through the night of a ship slowly shutting down?

I am Mother now, moving through the not-night, listening to the people
of my ship, tracking the monsters that trouble their thoughts and make

each day a weight to be lifted. To the monsters I am without pity, curbing
their reach and trimming their claws. To the people I am without power,

unable to keep the lights on, unable to shut the doors.