back when I was a bug
a wee little bug
things were never this hard!
I drank my morning dew
and feasted on mites
communed with sprites
everything was allllllllright
back when I was a worm
I didn’t yearn so much
didn’t wallow or grovel
I wriggled free, baby!
did the dirt a big favor
and shared my spoils easily
soil through skin
back when I was a star
I was far out and few between
the twinkle in your eye, wasn’t I?
not some notch on a warriors belt
but the eye serpentine
and also an elf
Dinah thinks this poem will turn sour
like when I was a bunch of grapes
we jostled for rank and status
on the vine that was our home
our cage
and what rage
to be smashed
distilled
and swilled
“nothing scares a wino but running out of wine”
nothing scares a grape but leaving the vine
please teach me
how to be a bug again
Aida Rends 