Picturesque

Originally posted 3/2/2012.

You exhort me to know and love
the natural world
of orcas and eagles
polar bears and honeybees

but tonight I must put in a word
for silverfish
spiders flies and
centipedes

who speed around
our feet and food
hang suspended in corners
behind the dryer

nearly impossible to
catch or kill and who
always have
the cellar as a retreat

Those are
the beasts for me
Unlovely
and universally reviled

yet thriving
So perfect
for the modern
broke household

I’m getting
tattoos upon me
one for each
shudder-making pest

I live among them
have learned
their habits
have prayed to become

good enough
to fake my way into
their good graces
as this world is ending

I know
the natural world
You don’t survive just by being
picturesque