Brood X by Frederick Pollack

They fall on their backs and can’t get up.
With the end of a twig I righted one.
It crawled into the grass, possibly flew,
ineptly, hitting something, as they do,
and fell on its back.

Among the dead on the terrace,
one had that fungus
which eats their butts. It resembles concrete.
Also this week, on a science site,
two micro-mushrooms on a living ant.

Forget the sound. You get used to sirens,
planes to and from Reagan National,
news. I’ve long planned
on my deathbed to curse, also, nature …
hope I remember.

Frederick Pollack is the author of two book-length narrative poems, THE ADVENTURE and HAPPINESS (Story Line Press; the former to be reissued by Red Hen Press), and two collections, A POVERTY OF WORDS (Prolific Press, 2015) and LANDSCAPE WITH MUTANT (Smokestack Books, UK, 2018). Many other poems in print and online journals.