wasps buzz, sting, fly off
eyelids swell like farm-fresh Dates
flies invade the face
ants tickle, trickle, prickle
nose and lips look frozen-fruits
mosquito-marching
bugs mate under warm pillows
crickets, cockroaches
tour on physique sleeping deep
rose chafers enter the nose
cutworms curl coolly
earwigs settle under sheets
millipedes get in costumes
make matters messy
ticks cling on heads from nowhere
(This is not simply fun. This is an everyday happening in Indian Slum-Life)
26 August 2021
A Buggy Tanka Contest Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: M. L. Kiser
For, What's In Your Garden contest
So, What is, in my garden?
Why'd you have to ask?
It's all hard work, just wasted
'Cause nothings made to last
I'm always fighting insects
Like Beetles by the score
Moths, flies and cutworms
I tell you, this is war
Caterpillar larvae
Crawling over all my fruit
And hidden in the soil
Ragweed’s taken root
Half my plants are dying
Soon the other half will go
Some say I should, grow grass instead
But I really hate to mow