The Last Locust
Dormant darkness
Forever long
Suddenly the slightest stirring
The beginnings of
Life’s endless song
The cycle reoccurring
Movement dawning
The tiniest twitch
A single synapsis firing
The motility of
The musculature
Rigidity respiring
Six limbs wiggling
Loosening soil
Primal instincts prevailing
Which way is up
Which way is down
The air and sky unveiling
Emerging slowly
Slender feelers
Poking through the soil
A quick reaction
To the sun’s refraction
Three ocelli eyes recoil
Seeking shelter
A fallen leaf
Thoughts slowly returning
Reams and reams
Of sleepy dreams
Until a sudden yearning
Here he was
Adult at last
Evolution transcending
A liberation
From hibernation’s
Story finally ending
All around
Ever louder
A million tymbals sounding
Each one a song
Sing along!
His arrival announcing
Testing wings
Precarious things
Alighting on a limb
Speaking to
A brethren
Staring back at him
Another limb
Another stare
Could no one speak a word?
To think he was
The only one
Certainly seemed absurd
Why no one else
Could communicate
Each had a mouth and brain
The reason why
They did not try
He had to ascertain
Frantically flying
From tree to tree
The moon his only light
Stopping at
The forest’s edge
He peered into the night
In the distance
An inviting glow
Pierced his dark despair
A tractor beam
Or so it seemed
Could he find an answer there?
A magnetic pull
Drew him close
And closer still …until
Landing in
The nick of time
On the window sill
At the desk
A silhouette
A bright computer screen
A set of ears
On a head
A boy … a human being
Hope against hope
He’d understand
Would the boy be friend or foe?
Antenna crossed
Just for luck
He piped a quick, “Hello!”
Recognition
Right away
The head spinning around
Eyes of blue
Not five but two
Looking for the sound
Peering up
Watching as
The boy slowly approached
A question posed
Should I suppose
You are a talking roach?
I suspect
You’re incorrect
This bug is not a pest
What kind exactly
Quite matter of factly
One might only guess
Hop aboard
We’ll explore
Scientifically
I’ll post your picture
On the web
For all the world to see
I am sure
Your human friends
May find it quite amusing
For since I surfaced
In all earnest
It’s all been quite confusing
Spreading wings
Landing lightly
On his shoulder with such ease
Phone extended
Selfie time
“Smile” he said, “Say Cheese!”
Suddenly
Fingers flying
He watched the boy in awe
Then magically
A photograph
On the screen he saw
Two big eyes
Glowing red
With three more in between
A long thorax
Six spindly legs
And wings both glistening green
Funny noises
Ding! Ping!
The computer spits a chime
Recognition
Of the picture
Done in record time
Suddenly
A pair of glasses
On a professorial nose
An English accent
Clearing his throat
Ahem! I do suppose
Upon further study
I recommend
A patronly paleontologist
It’s very clear
You should consult
An expert entomologist
The genus of
His sub species
Are all called arthropods
An invertebrate
He surely is
Though he seems a little odd
Learned thoughts
The boy remarks
But I need more specifics
To know exactly
Matter of factly
Would really be terrific
It appears my friend
Nobody knows
Though you seem a real show stopper
But to a fish
You’d be a dish
A nice juicy grasshopper
No! He’s not!
Piped the professor
Your camera’s simply not in focus
I’d look myself
But I have a touch
Of osteoporosis
For he’s simply
Unconditionally
And I say this quite convictionally
With no duplicity
For compositionally
The science states unequivocally
There’s no mystery
To his history
No hooey or hocus pocus
This little bug
Is no roach or slug
He’s just a big fat locust
So the boy
Began to type
Fingers flying on the keys
Then there appeared
A mirror image
Staring back to see
Robina pseudo
Acrididae
His Latin name transcribed
A rather handsome
Lad he was
With both his wings spread wide
That name’s too long
It’s all wrong
It’s too serious and silly
One that reflects
Precise and direct
Like mine, they call me Billy
Not Gill or Phil
Boris or Morris
Not a Gary or a Harry
Not Lonnie or Ronnie
Brandon or Landon
Nor Barry or even Larry
All those names
Are really swell
Any one might do the job
We will make it
Uncomplicated
And simply call you Bob
Bob the bug
That sounds good
In fact I think I like it
I never had
A name before
Will you show me how to write it?
A writing pad
A ballpoint pen
Held up for him to see
First a “B”
Then an “O”
Followed by another “B”
B - O - B
Bob! he said
It’s an easy one to spell
You may need
To sign your name
One can ever tell
Let’s take a walk
To the mall
That’s what we should do next
At the bookstore
We can look for
A book about insects
Bob watched as
Billy turned
To the chapter specifying
The metaplasia
Of various cicadia
The words were mesmerizing
Evidently
Every locust
Periodically disappears
They go down
Into the ground
For seventeen long years
Wow! he said
It’s like being dead
That’s a long long time to sleep
One would guess
With that much rest
You could count 10 million sheep
Stay with me
And you will see
Up here is much more pleasurable
Above the ground
We’ll buddy around
In fact we’ll be inseparable
The days and months
Turned into years
Everything was done together
Billy and Bob
Two peas in a pod
They’d be pals forever
Classroom buddies
Sharing studies
A secret education
Like a moppet
In his pocket
He hid till graduation
Cap and gown
Sized way down
Dressed for his diploma
The principal
Said, I’m appalled
Perhaps I have glaucoma
Forty years
Of teaching school
You truly have audacity
I congratulate
In fact substantiate
Your “insect”ual tenacity
For I’ve never
Had a student
So small in size and statue
One could figure
You are not much bigger
Than a tiny cashew
Summer Spring
Winter and Fall
Fun-filled days of guile and gaul
Time passed
Flying fast
Until Ivy League’s came to call
Harvard, Dartmouth
Princeton and Yale
Prestigious universities all
From Sigma Pi
To Delta Chi
Pledging each fraternity ball
Car’s packed
No turning back
As Billy donned his favorite shirt
To seek a degree
In “Bugology”
And come back a bug expert
Farewell my friend
Don’t be sad
For college is quite complicated
There are restrictions
On admissions
Bugs cannot be tolerated
Drilling fast
On the glass
A hole in his window pane
Now you can come
And go with ease
Since you must remain
As for food
I’m sure that you
Can fend well for yourself
There’s lots of leaves
On deciduous trees
To help maintain your health
He said goodbye
Tears in his eyes
Don’t worry about this bug
As his six limbs
Embraced Billy’s chin
A teeny weeny bug hug
Watching as
The car drove off
The room seemed still and lonely
He had to find
More of his kind
He couldn’t be the only
Former studies
With his buddy
Taught when the swarms were coming
Listening for
The underscore
Of ten thousand locusts humming
Days and months
Soon a year
Passed without a sound
The one he’d heard
When he’d emerged
From deep within the ground
Starting as
A single chirp
Swelling to a chorus
Until the forest
Sounded like
A heard of tyrannosaurus
Bob awakened
With a start
His reaction quick and primal
Rushing to
The window stool
There was no denial
Roaring like
A locomotive
Screaming through the night
A passing hoard
He’ll climb aboard
And with that took flight
Flying close
Touching wings
He plunged into the mass
Thick as thieves
He ducked and weaved
A million he flew past
Until emerging
Swerving swirling
The hoard all following close
A wisp of smoke
Rising falling
A living breathing ghost
Stronger bigger
Than the rest
From years above the ground
While they were sleeping
He was eating
The difference was profound
Flying higher
Higher still
The stars his only light
All alone
Or so he thought
Till he looked off to his right
Gossamer wings
Of gold and silver
Reflected in her tiara’s sheen
He flew in awe
Of what he saw
A luscious locust queen
Spinning around
Upside down
A giddy love sick school boy
Dive bomb dipping
Backwards flipping
Besides himself with joy
Following her down
To the ground
Landing by her side
Had he waited
All these years
For his locust bride?
Screeching to
A sudden stop
A flip his final stunt
Bob’s my name
It’s spelled the same
From the back or from the front
My oh my!
How you can fly
Why even in reverse
Obviously
You are royalty
For only they converse
A slight head tilt
A voice of silk
My name is Anasazi
Are you an aerial
Acrobat?
Or perhaps a kamikaze
Neither one
A lucky bum
Who’s dream has just come true
On bended knee
I make this plea
My wish to marry you
Please accept
Without regrets
With your beauty and my brains
A locust queen
A locust king
Together we will reign
Your proposal
Is sincere
This I know is true
I won’t hesitate
Or make you wait
Yes, I’ll marry you
The wedding was
Spectacular
Every type of bug was there
A praying mantis
Was the preacher
And the groom was debonair
Even Billy
Came back home
His best man and best friend
It’s not every
Day one gets
An insect wedding to attend
Tuxedo tails
And top hat
And spats on all six feet
He waited
At the alter
For his bride to be
His locust heart
Almost stopped
As she walked down the aisle
Suddenly weak
On all six feet
Her beauty so beguiled
Butterflies
For bridesmaids
Spiderwebs her wedding veil
Lighting bugs
Adorned the trees
The entire forest regaled
Aphids for
Her bouquet
Buttercups her bridal train
An orchestra
Of crickets
Chirped a wedding March refrain
The ceremony
Began slowly
As the music slowly waned
The lanky minister
Cleared his throat
For he had been ordained
Let no other
Put asunder
What now is joined together
Thereabouts
I now pronounce
You bug and wife forever
Silken veil
Slowly raised
As she pursed her locust lips
The bouquet tossed
As bridesmaids fought
He leaned in for a kiss
Off they flew
The happy two
Straight back to Billy’s room
That he’d donated
And decorated
For their bug-a-boo honeymoon
So if you hear
A locust song
When the others
Have all long gone
It’s merely Bob
With his bride
And his children
By his side
For he decided
Not to retire
And assimilate
As an invertebrate
With humans
He’d matriculate
So both species
Could relate
And to this day
His story’s told
By poets and folklorist’s
How he stayed around
Above the ground
A bug of the utmostest
To take his place
And be noticed
And not be
A mere bug
…. Or bogus
The very very
Quite contrary
The very very
Last Locust
John snelling
02:23:22
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