Paper Wasp by Martin Willitts Jr.

The skin of a paper wasp nest rips

like a map folded too many times, 

a wasp shakes out in moonlight, 

darkening 

like the last moments 

of a burnt-out lightbulb,

into a surer world. 

Its wings curl, open,

straighten

like wing-nuts, rub 

simultaneously 

before lifting towards 

darkness just breaking. 

It is indifferent

to what it brings, and if I never move

it will leave me alone. 

I will not disturb this world; 

it is too much like tissue: 

easily broken. 

Martin Willitts Jr has 20 chapbooks including the winner of the Turtle Island Quarterly Editor’s Choice Award, “The Wire Fence Holding Back the World” (Flowstone Press, 2017), plus 11 full-length collections including forthcoming full-lengths includes “The Uncertain Lover” (Dos Madres Press, 2018), and “Home Coming Celebration” (FutureCycle Press, 2019).