The Cockroach Poem by Sylvia Frances Chan

The Cockroach
(inspired by the poem of Robert William Service)

The cockroach
please, do not approach
they live alone or as a family
they are often hungry but never greedy

like drones
you find them between the stones
constantly wet, not dried out
usually in the darkest spaces

once in Kenya
I visited the Capital's Hospital
in the toilet of that important department
a cockroach like a flying saucer
just skimmed over my hair

the toilet was too bright and too clean
also still unoccupied
so the cockroach was still unidentified
my only experience with cockroach in Kenya
was just an awful non-Eureka!

most respect from me individually
they survived all eras
they are not fata-morganas
mind you they exist since the dinosaur eras

©Sylvia Frances Chan
Monday 09-09-2024