Pencil Stubs Online
Reader Recommends


 

Ishmael The Wasp

By John I. Blair

“And I alone am left to tell the tale.”
(Herman Melville, Moby Dick)

The solitary wasp lingered all day
Around the clean-scraped roof beam
Where just the night before its nest had hung.
Now haunted by a lingering poison taint,
The boards breathed a tale of horror.
That evening all were resting on the nest,
Vigilant for their pupaes’ safety,
But unsuspecting of attack,
When suddenly, from the dark below,
Came a blinding beam of light
And a suffocating stream of oily toxin!
All screamed silently and dropped
Dying to the pavement underneath
Save one, who flew to fight
The unseen foe, but unavailing and too late.
Choking fumes, cataracts of water,
Then a ravaging broom,
Devastated everything this remaining wasp
Held sacred. Nothing was left,
Nor reason given. Just blind doom.
And after hours of looking
For what had been bereft,
At sunset the solitary wasp flew away.

©2002 John I. Blair


Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.


 

Refer a friend to this Poem

Your Name -
Your Email -
Friend's Name - 
Friends Email - 

 

Horizontal Navigator

 

HOME

To report problems with this page, email Webmaster

Copyright © 2002 AMEA Publications