It’s a hideous bug, so it deserves
To die. It’s the size of Kafka,
With wings that beat sleep
Out of my eyes. It’s ugly.
Attracted to light, I wonder
Why it chose to rest not on
The light bulb, but inside
The open window, between
The metal screen and my bedroom.
Maybe it missed home. When
The rain came to cool the heat,
I closed my window, and thus
Sealed the bug within it: trapped it
Between the human world
And the world of nature;
In a purgatory of my own design.
Copyright 2010 by A. Jarrell Hayes
First appeared on Facebook.
Discover other great poems on One Stop Poetry.
Advertisement
nice write. we are inundated with stink bugs right now…wish i could trap a few…playing god to him eh? smiles. guess we all do that to some. nice one shot.
I loved this– great job!
“In a purgatory of my own design.” Love that line and the use of metaphor.
Excellent One Shot!
it’s the size of kafka – wonder if you refer to this story where the man became a bug and in the end was sweeped away..love the last line with the purgatory of your own design
Yes, I was referring to Kafka’s Metamorphosis.
Was that bug Kafkaesque? LOL!
(G-Man rolled-out that word recently)
Too bad you couldn’t open the screen and set him free.
(Bad Kharma!)
Interesting One Shot!
I’ve been enjoying the poems that take an everyday situation and put thought and purpose into the scenario.
you have closed that bug in to doom; the reader experiences a feeling of dread
Great One Shot
Thanks from the Moon
“A purgatory of my own design” – excellent summation. My mother said she thought earth itself was a kind of purgatory for most souls, and for some people I guess that’s true. I liked the eeriness of the piece. Well written. Thanks for posting, Gay @beachanny