The black flies have hit the jackpot:
this old woman in her rocking chair
is like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
***
People begat and begat
and now we are here:
there are days when
there are days when
humankind looks like
a failed experiment,
a rollercoaster of up and down,
forward and back - a fine madness,
enough to make your head spin.
***
I prefer the company of animals.
Wolves, elephants, dogs, whales,
carry collective wisdom
we would be wise to access.
***
Instead, madmen kill them -
for tusks, for thrills, to prove
they can dominate the innocent,
the helpless, to say
"the world is mine."
***
It isn't even noon,
and I am oh, so tired.
I turn the radio off,
with all its bad news.
I go outside.
Even blackflies
have to eat.
with all its bad news.
I go outside.
Even blackflies
have to eat.
And I need to watch the sky.
***
This bit of weirdness came from Shay's Word List, after reading a couple of Anne Sexton's edgy poems. My brain took a ramble.
Awful to be eaten by those black flies! Thank goodness they are seasonal. We don't get them around where I live, thankfully. And, yes, there is something to be said for the company of animals.
ReplyDeleteBlack flies? Ugh! And here I thought they were all in Washington DC or working for ICE.
ReplyDeleteThat's mean! Many people in Washington are Black and "fly" (and some are frequent flyers), but the city's never had blackflies! (In the Blue Ridge Mountains we have deer flies, which are slightly bigger and attack people the same way, but they're solitary. You have a chance of killing the one who's tormenting you.)
DeleteUgh to the black flies - they are sometimes bad up north. I try to stay away when they are out their bite really does hurt.
ReplyDeleteEven black flies have to eat but, I prefer it not be me.
Humankind looks like a failed experiment...it does, Sherry...every day we have more examples of complete lack of humanity...we have mosquitoes here in the tropics..equally painful and annoying!
ReplyDeleteI love how you have structured your poem. Sometimes the news and gathering flies do seem to unsettle - I love the ending too - Jae
ReplyDelete((empathy)) A story J.I. Rodale told was that in Maine an indigenous guide told him, "One month before blackfly season all Indians know to eat no sugar. Then the blackflies don't bother us." I've always wondered whether this is true.
ReplyDeletePK
That first stanza got me, Sherry, as well as your closing lines--strong imagery, slightly humorous, and made me wish they were just visiting butterflies instead!
ReplyDelete“ It isn't even noon, / and I am oh, so tired.” Isn’t that the truth?
ReplyDelete