A Long Poem About Mosquitos

Ms. HaikuMs. Haiku Washington DC Posts: 7,265
edited December 2004 in Poetry, Prose, Music & Art
A= adult woman
K=Kid younger than 10

On a bus in NY stuck in traffic:

K: What are you writing about?
A: It's a long story.

(silence for about 5.17 minutes)

K: We're not moving.
I've got time.

(kneels on seat, looks out window)

A: Ok, before I begin, tell me,
when you go into a bookstore
or a library, do you head towards
adult non-fiction or the children's section?

K: Children's section.

A: And what do you like to read?
K: I read about spiders, frogs, ants, worms, slugs . . .
A: That's what I needed to know.
OK, so, tell me,
do you know of anything good about mosquitos?
K: NOOOOOOO!
A: Have you been through a car wash,
and watched the rollers go over the car?
K: Yes!
A: You like that?
K: Yeah!
A: And the windows are nice and clean,
almost new.
K: What, oh yeah, but the rollers are cool!
A: Focus on the windows.
K: All right.

A: So, what do mosquitos do?
K: Bite, leave marks, suck blood
like vampires. You should see
all the bites on my friend, Tommy's sister's face.
A: One bite at a time for this story.
K: Yeah, but, you should have seen it!
A: Let's go back to this one story.
K: Yeah, ok, fine.

A: Mosquitos bite and suck blood.
They leave marks that swell up and hurt
or at least itch.
If you scratch the mosquito's bite too much
it will leave a scar.
They carry diseases like malaria.
There is nothing good about a mosquito.
No matter what the government does
you can't erase them,
and I don't know why.
K: What do you mean erase mosquitos?
A: I mean kill.
K: Oh.

(Kid slouches back into the bus seat.)

A: Once upon a time
there was a mosquito and a window.
The mosquito liked to bite things and leave marks.
It saw the clean window.
It wanted to bite it, and leave a mark.
Cleanliness does not exist in the mosquito world.
Also, mosquitos are stupid.
When was the last time you saw a mosquito
successfully bite a window?

But, this mosquito waited for it's chance.
It saw how the sunrise was reflected
in the window, and it saw how the angle
of the sun changed when it set.
Throughout all of the days
that the mosquito looked at the window
it would see ladybugs, and hummingbirds
fly past it without a thought.
It saw the reflections of the trees dancing
with the wind during a light rain.
The window kept a lot inside,
but she brought out the best in what she saw.

The day the mosquito decided to bite the window
was a bright summer day.
Kids were jumping rope in the driveway.
Parents planted flowers and mowed the lawn.
The trees kept to themselves because
there wasn't a breeze.
Birds and ladybugs sought the shade
of trees and petals respectively.

The mosquito charged.
Splat! right into the window.
It died.
Again, let me emphasize the stupidity
of mosquitos, which can not be
emphasized enough.

The mosquito underestimated
the strength of the window, and, yet, . . .
The window was shocked.
Instead of seeing the world in all it's beauty
it saw the world through mosquito guts.
Hummingbirds looked like mosquitos.
Ladybugs looked like mosquitos.
Trees looked like very tall towering mosquitos.

K: Can't someone just wash the window?

A: Someone or something has to notice
the mosquito guts on the window
before it can be washed.
Luckily, there are many ways to wash a window:
You can hire a professional,
You can wait for rain, but
if the rain is light, the window
needs many days of light rain
to be washed thoroughly.
On the other hand, a thunderstorm may wash
the mosquito guts away all at once,
but it may shake the window too much.

K: So what is the mosquito?
A: A bad person.
K: And, what is the window?
A: An unsuspecting person.
K: What do you mean by 'unsuspecting'?
A: Just walking, nothing special.
K: What are the mosquito guts?
A: Memories

(Almost silent for 1.3 minutes except the sound of the traffice jam.)

K: Mom! This lady needs a tissue.
She's washing her windows
and it's like a thunderstorm!

A: (accepts the tissue) Thank you.

K: It's good you're washing your windows
or you'd see a butterfly
as a mosquito. I saw a
blue and orange butterfly
in my friend, Joey's, backyard. . .
There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous
The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • very well written--
  • AliAli Posts: 2,621
    Interesting..I like....like something I did in my Chapbook.
    You gonna make a complete play?
    Break a leg....
    ali
    A whisper and a thrill
    A whisper and a chill
    adv2005

    "Why do I bother?"
    The 11th Commandment.
    "Whatever"

    PETITION TO STOP THE BAN OF SMOKING IN BARS IN THE UNITED STATES....Anyone?
  • Ali wrote:
    Interesting..I like....like something I did in my Chapbook.
    You gonna make a complete play?
    Break a leg....
    ali

    i didnt write it--
  • AliAli Posts: 2,621
    I'm so attentive to peoples needs huh?
    TO THE AUTHOR:
    It rocked...:)
    A whisper and a thrill
    A whisper and a chill
    adv2005

    "Why do I bother?"
    The 11th Commandment.
    "Whatever"

    PETITION TO STOP THE BAN OF SMOKING IN BARS IN THE UNITED STATES....Anyone?
  • The adult has such an interesting and funny voice. Quite unique. The point made at the end is quite dramatic, not to mention revealing. Cool.
    .........................................................................
  • jamitjamit Posts: 49
    Who knew Mosquitos could be so interesting? I will never look at my window the same again.
    YOU ARE..FAITHFULL, but no TREMOR CHRIST, and there's a DEAD MAN..GIVEN TO FLY

    "I feel the same way about disco as I do herpes" -Hunter S. Thompson
  • FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    I know this poem but I thought I'd tell you again it's good, Bibliobella. :cool:
  • Ms. HaikuMs. Haiku Washington DC Posts: 7,265
    Thanks for the encouraging words! I don't know about you, and I've written about this on other siites, but sometimes there's a poem that's "Given" and a poem that I need to work at. This one was definitely "Given." It was very easy to write. I only changed a few things before I originally posted. I don't plan on working anymore on this because I feel it would debauch that original flow. I don't plan on submitting it to a magazine or anything either so there's no need to work on it. I'm just happy to share it, and even happier to know that others think it makes sense. Grazie!
    There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous
    The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
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