Chittering, flittering, spiky legs skittering,  black crickets sneak underneath the back door -
Skidding on lino and diving for cover as broom bristles sweep them across the smooth floor.
Hiding in crevices, antennae waving, they creep out when I’m dozing off in my chair -
launch at my night light, their whis'pry wings whirring, to tangle their crooked black feet in my hair.

She’d known all along of course...but buried the knowledge under the star bursts of hope that bloomed whenever he smiled at her.  (God, how she loved that crease curving from his nose to the corner of his mouth –  a small detail burned forever in her heart’s picture of him.)
Spikes of unease at being so besotted and vulnerable were soothed away as his southern drawl wooed her soul but it was just a matter of time. The axe fall of final rejection cut deep.
                                    We crave acceptance,
                                    Seeking truth behind the eyes.
                                    Rejection wounds us

Like fairy drum rolls
rain drips from eave to bucket
widening rust holes

Stuttering, puttering, bright wings a'fluttering,
filmy fragility feeding at flowers;
dancing and chancing its luck at romancing,
the butterfly lives out its hours.

Under sultry summer heaven, lightning unzips her leaden sky
to the thunderous applause of leering, jostling clouds.
Fat tears fall slowly then hastily, weeping away the dust of drought.

Oh, whispering whine
of my evening tormentor,
on my blood you dine.
Your song of high pitch
heralds your vampire habit  
and leaves spots which itch;
Red, lumpy unwantedness
peeps out from my summer dress.

Underneath a leaf,
curled away from scorching sun
the caterpillars sleep.