under the dimmer stars

under the dimmer stars wild creatures dance
the rules of courtesy require exchange
between those meetings that we prearrange
and those that happen by the merest chance
each looks on as the hungry run and prance
knowing that none would dare fright or estrange
this is the one night when the laws can change
and none will look at the matings askance
in daylight all returns to proper wild
forest shade is as red in tooth and claw
as any son of hobbes might ever know
but on the proper night the smallest child
knows that an older and a kinder law
shields every being from the deadly blow