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On its back,
The cockroach,
In a jacket of red wings,
Slender legs,
And bulging abdomen,
Like the tummy of African statesman,
Its legs wallowing in despair,
In the air,
Stamping the spread eagled,
Hind and forelimbs,
Of the poor anthropod,
Kicking and waving,
A cry for the succor,
To be freed from ebola,
Or breaking the *** tether,
Or un-doing strong bonds of poverty,
Three districts under leprosy,
In the domain of the bull’s eye,
Where lesbians and gays swallow raw fate,
Its salient manifestation,
Then the cockroach kicks silently,
Anticipating for salvage,
But when the domain owner comes,
He steps with full weight,
His foot dressed in military boots,
From the previous legacy of Che Gue Vara,
On the belly of the kakerlag at Berlin Wall,
Bursting its stomach but hopscotch,
Spilling the white stuff out,
Of poverty and mental dilemma,
Amid hopelessness in future and history,
As terrorism mires tomorrow,
When China reigns today,
At mercy of contemporary panjandrums,
Moving from white to black
And from black to face book,
Killing those who fall in commercial love,
As if money is the ***** for nuptial night,
But only to go forth ignobled,
Without making momentous affinity,
In the realm of ill fated cockroach   back-dom,
Sending Mafousian Egypt to Swedish table,
Without scorn and regard for true African blood,
Where will I apologize?
If the ****** bug
Enters my head and heart,
To blind my logical eyes,
Only to open wide
The senses that see and feel
Religion and race; O! Al Qaeda!
Glenn Sentes May 2023
How does a book cry?
How does an ant smile?
Why do the bird moan
and the dog chirp
when I write a poem?
Why do their eyes listen
and their ears see
when I ***** for applause?

Why does the book cry?
Why does the ant smile?

(The book spits the pages
but smudges remain in the leaves--
forming letters of witnessing and gushing
hours--all implying regrets.)

The ant approached me
but only my heart knew
she was smiling at me.
I asked her why
but she only thanked me
for my sweet letters
that came from my lips.
I gave her a candy
but she refused.
I read her my poems.
There I saw her lips curve.
And the robin
with the blue bill sang
together with the squirrel
with a white tongue
that overheard me.
They all said,
"Why don't you stand on the Everest
and read the earth your poems?"
And I suddenly remembered
I was mute.

(c) Glenn Sentes
Arlene Corwin Aug 2016
Basic Kindness To Bugs Imprisoned On Window Pane

Planting glass on window pane,
Sliding it to tiring bug -
A creepy-crawly stuck inside.
You slide it forward
Delicately inching toward
The anthropod.
Lifting glass you slip a card
To gather fly or bee or bug
Safe under glass,
Protected from a dire passing.
Lifting whole so carefully
So as to not crush head or wing
While bearing thing
To door and freedom.
It, a test, trial, task - a problem
Of the kind that gets you points in heaven
And, of which you feel well pleased
When finally you do succeed.

Basic Kindness To Bugs Imprisoned 8.11.2016
Circling Round Nature II;
Arlene Corwin

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