champion of insects
(Published in Avant Fall 2006)

i come home to
a cockroach and more centipedes
to kill,
sleep in front of the AC
because the cold doesn’t circulate
well …i’ll be paying for it later.
i’m reading books of poetry
Bukowski, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti
to try to find
a voice
to try to write more than
recycled
noise in my sad little journal
that sits out
on the table
begging to be opened.
how could i ever compete
when my life hardly
extends past these walls?
i’m no whore-fucker,
i don’t nurture
an addiction or cry out
about corruption
of politics and people.
all i do is battle bugs
…and it’s hardly a fair fight.