Lyrical Prose Inspired by the Islands: "Flies"
“Flies”
They swarm, gathering, congregating
Seeking out and feasting on the bits
The flesh and waste of what was.
Infinite in number, they roil about wounds
Festering sores, filth, maggots on corpses in open tombs
No insult to say one “draws flies” - Everyone does.
Flies nip your ankles, flies in face, ears and mouth
Flies on the dead dog and in the pig shit,
Flies on ALL your food, flies in the bread dough -
(“Just pretend they’re raisins!”) -
Flies in the bathroom, in the kitchen, on the beach
Flies up your nose - Blow that bastard out!
Small children don’t notice the flies covering their sores,
Old hobbled men are indifferent to the black swarm
Covering infected lesions on swollen extremities
Like wrathful plump grapes about to burst.
I notice and am disturbed;
“Fly strips and flypaper next time,”
I swear, while knowing deep down it’s more likely
I’ll never want to return to these “Islands of Flies” again.
--(c) 2007 Ron Ledgerwood
They swarm, gathering, congregating
Seeking out and feasting on the bits
The flesh and waste of what was.
Infinite in number, they roil about wounds
Festering sores, filth, maggots on corpses in open tombs
No insult to say one “draws flies” - Everyone does.
Flies nip your ankles, flies in face, ears and mouth
Flies on the dead dog and in the pig shit,
Flies on ALL your food, flies in the bread dough -
(“Just pretend they’re raisins!”) -
Flies in the bathroom, in the kitchen, on the beach
Flies up your nose - Blow that bastard out!
Small children don’t notice the flies covering their sores,
Old hobbled men are indifferent to the black swarm
Covering infected lesions on swollen extremities
Like wrathful plump grapes about to burst.
I notice and am disturbed;
“Fly strips and flypaper next time,”
I swear, while knowing deep down it’s more likely
I’ll never want to return to these “Islands of Flies” again.
--(c) 2007 Ron Ledgerwood