Pthirus pubis
Three Word Wednesday requires participants
to use the three words of the week in a composition.
The words this week were: adequate,explosive & parasite.
A Reflection on Life’s Parasites.
Life is full of parasites.
Some suck your blood,
Some your lifeblood.
Some graze on your extremities
While others are more invasive,
A little more personal.
Some arrive unannounced and,
Often unnoticed, never leave.
We have an adequate lot in life,
Enough to share perhaps,
And they are usually small, flat and largely hidden.
Some make their presence known with the odd tickle,
An itch perhaps, but we learn to live with them,
Are they co-mensal if you are the dinner?
Perhaps not but fellow travellers, none the less,
And we are a tolerant people.
Others arrive benignly, almost welcomed,
And, like a Trojan Horse, un cheval de troie,
They bide their time quietly grazing
Until ready to show their explosive intent,
And then they unexpectedly rupture,
Disgorging malice and toxins
Into your world. Quite puzzling.
I have never understood
Why a parasite would
Kill its host.
.
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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
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Yep... those parasites are all around us...
ReplyDeleteCo-dependency..yep...i think i can understand that one..ps watch out for a spider in the post!
ReplyDeleteLovely warm furry things that they are...
Deleteoh...!!! is the spider that kills her mate also a parasite? (now I think of that ...:)
ReplyDeleteMind-boggling! Why parasites would want to kill the host.! Great write Cosmo!
ReplyDeleteHank
Oscar Wilde nailed it 'Yet each man kills the things he loves...'
ReplyDeleteOh. Does that mean i am a parasite? Or Mrs N?
DeleteENOUGH OF THE SPIDERS ALREADY! Jae Rose was making a return comment to one I made on her blog. Spiders aren't parasites. But they suffer a few.
ReplyDeleteMy father in law had recurring malaria; that's one that can leap out unexpectedly.
ReplyDeleteMany parasites are happy for you to be food for their babies who would begrudge them that?
ReplyDeleteparasites...when are those gonna become extinct ;) and there is no logic why they would kill its host.
ReplyDeletewe, humans, are parasites. we think that this is all ours and anyone or anything that tries to infringe upon our space we try to elimate or devour. the earth is the host we scrounge upon
ReplyDeleteLove to read poems about vermin. ;) Not sure I care for the notion of linking that to allegedly vermin-like people, though, that could be misunderstood. I loved the use of French words in the poem. Anyway, good work.
ReplyDeleteExcellent points here, JC! I think this can be applied to other human situations in the world today!
ReplyDeleteYikes! Good one.
ReplyDeleteZQ
Love this and also the form which gives a parasitic illusion - wonderful use of language :)
ReplyDeleteI like how we can also understand your poem on a metaphorical level, creepiness included.
ReplyDeleteI would say your words are explosive and more than adequate...your images and words about so many parasites ring true as I have had to remove them as I find them...deep feelings here.
ReplyDeleteHa, and what your closing lines make me think of is we humans, killing OUR host. Cool write, Cosmo........I especially love "we are a tolerant people". Made me smile.
ReplyDeleteI understand exactly what you mean. Somehow all strategies of ridding them (the human ones) have exhausted for me. Good write!
ReplyDeleteParasites... Life is full of them.. and in the end they are like Aesop's scorpion,.. It's in their nature.
ReplyDeleteIt can be symbiotic...
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes.
ReplyDelete". . . fellow travellers, none the less,
And we are a tolerant people."
And then, as you say, their are the Trojan horses." I think there is an Aesop fable about why. Something about an alligator helping a frog across the river and then eating him "because that is my nature."
You ask the important question of biology.
ReplyDeleteeeeek....parasites...i think you gave me hives just thinking about them. especially the ones too small to even see.
ReplyDeletelove how well you weaved this topic into a poem, it's even informative!
stacy lynn mar
this is wonderful. reminded me of walking across my old college campus, watching life and fall unfold together.
stacy lynn mar
http://warningthestars.blogspot.com/
ah well we are the meal that is right in front of them..
ReplyDeleteand lacking other substance, since it is all about them,
they dig in...
Parasites....we are their meal ticket and maybe we are their friend....either way, I just rather not be aware of their presence....love what you did with this. Thought provoking for sure. :-)
ReplyDeleteAfter reading that last line I find myself wondering that too; I've never thought of that before, but I guess there is a logical reason... I just don't know what it is :)
ReplyDeleteI'll give this a tick!
ReplyDelete