Friday, September 26, 2014

757 - A Reflection on Life’s Parasites.

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.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

Print this post

29 comments:

  1. Yep... those parasites are all around us...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Co-dependency..yep...i think i can understand that one..ps watch out for a spider in the post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh...!!! is the spider that kills her mate also a parasite? (now I think of that ...:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mind-boggling! Why parasites would want to kill the host.! Great write Cosmo!

    Hank

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oscar Wilde nailed it 'Yet each man kills the things he loves...'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh. Does that mean i am a parasite? Or Mrs N?

      Delete
  6. ENOUGH 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.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My father in law had recurring malaria; that's one that can leap out unexpectedly.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Many parasites are happy for you to be food for their babies who would begrudge them that?

    ReplyDelete
  9. parasites...when are those gonna become extinct ;) and there is no logic why they would kill its host.

    ReplyDelete
  10. we, 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

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love 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.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Excellent points here, JC! I think this can be applied to other human situations in the world today!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love this and also the form which gives a parasitic illusion - wonderful use of language :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I like how we can also understand your poem on a metaphorical level, creepiness included.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I 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.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ha, 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.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I understand exactly what you mean. Somehow all strategies of ridding them (the human ones) have exhausted for me. Good write!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Parasites... Life is full of them.. and in the end they are like Aesop's scorpion,.. It's in their nature.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Haha, yes.

    ". . . 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."

    ReplyDelete
  20. You ask the important question of biology.

    ReplyDelete
  21. eeeek....parasites...i think you gave me hives just thinking about them. especially the ones too small to even see.

    love 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/

    ReplyDelete
  22. ah well we are the meal that is right in front of them..
    and lacking other substance, since it is all about them,
    they dig in...

    ReplyDelete
  23. 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. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  24. After 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 :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'll give this a tick!

    ReplyDelete

You've come this far - thank you.
Take your time, look around,
There is lots to see.