Join Diane, MotherOwl, Mimi, the contributors in the comments section, and me, as we tackle this creepy, crawly, wriggly, fluttery, zoomy, buzzy topic.
You can leave your poem in the comments or post on your own blog; if you do the latter, please leave a comment here as well so we can find you and your poem. Use the topic, or choose another; the idea is to work our brains and have fun.
You are also welcome to suggest topics for future Poetry Mondays, and to contribute a poem by another author (please credit the writer).
*****
Bugs is definitely a timely topic for me this week. In just one week, we went from overnight frost warnings to 34C heat and humidity. All the little critters who sleep during the cold weather suddenly woke up (or their eggs laid last fall have hatched) and they've all been busy making sure their family lines don't die out. It's like a bug bomb has exploded around here.
The worst are the moths and some kind of little brown flying beetle thing. So many of them are getting in the house it's driving me . . . buggy. It's a full-time job catching them and carrying them back out of the house to safety.
Our cats don't appreciate my devotion, because they are, shall we say, "moth connoisseurs".
The crunching makes me feel faintly sick.
And the other bugs are just playthings for them, to be ignored once their mobility is impaired and there is no movement except pitiful legs weakly waving in the air.
The weakly waving, pitiful legs make me feel faintly sick too.
And so I trudge wearily back and forth with my little recycled pudding cup and my piece of folded paper, chasing/trapping/releasing bugs while my cats disapprove. Are you green with envy yet over my exciting life?
Oh, you're just green from the crunching and weakly waving, too . . . Sorry :)
*****
Mathy I'm Not, But These Numbers Worry Me
The bugs get in
I put them out
I'd squash them, but
I'm not a lout
The cats to whom
I am a slave
Do not know why
The bugs I save
Their help I use
Make no mistake
They find the bugs
Which I then take
I trap them in
My pudding cup
Then block the top
And pick them up
Open the door
To set them free
One goes out
... And in come three
 |
Similar to the moths we have. I've taken pictures, but they don't turn out because I'm taking them at night with a point and shoot. My images are grainy and look like those UFO photos you see on fake "documentaries" about aliens. (Image: Pixabay) |
And now for a different kind of "bug" which I was reminded of when I started searching Pixabay for a picture of a moth.
This picture was included in the search results for "moth":
 |
This is not a moth. I think there might be a bug in the search function on Pixabay. |
And of course we must have bug-related funnies:
*****
I hope you have a bug-free week, although with Nature ... and New Blogger ... and a pandemic ... and all ........ there are no guarantees ......
Next week's topic is ............ LIGHT.
We've used it before, but that was almost three years ago. I bet we can find something new to say about it by now!
If you're relatively new here, you can find my poem about light from November 2017 here.
I can relate to the last part of your poem. Since the cat has graduated to "limited supervised release" i.e. Briana goes out and watches him to make sure he doesn't bother the neighbor's cat, the door gets left open, and the bugs come in. Briana caught one in a sour cream container that didn't fly but jumped alarmingly high...
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side there are some absolutely beautiful butterflies out now, and I get the bit about taking pictures of them as the ones I just transferred from my phone to my laptop look small and fuzzy instead of beautiful and impressive like they were this afternoon when I took them. The ducks, on the other hand, came out splendidly.
I've never minded ladybugs, but I find them annoying when there are a lot of them. They land on my arms and startle me when I'm walking near the bridge over the river, and I find I don't want to turn off the startle reaction that has kept me away from yellow jacket stings for so many years.
There are also spiders, most of which are fine, but we've had a couple of them that were more than an inch across come crawling in here and causing Briana to make semi-amusing noises. After I saw the first one, which hid before I could decide what I should do about him, I texted Zsuzs that if she heard any blood-curdling screams followed by artillery sounds, it probably meant that Briana had found him.
The birds and frogs (and at least one bat) are having a festival, though.
-Doug in Sugar Pine
I don't mind seeing bugs, but when they land on me they've gone too far :D That's a good point about the bugs being a food source for other animals. Even mosquitoes have a purpose. lol
DeleteDid you tell Briana about your little friend? You either have to find that spider or move out now! Yikes. In our house, I tend to relocate bugs to the back yard and my husband tends to kill anything not human, so it has been interesting to speculate on what littleb's take will be. I'm happy and proud to report that he transported a spider from the bathroom to the backyard last week because he knew it would freak me out. In truth, I had been keeping an eye on that spider for a few weeks, trying to decide what to do with it but not quite daring to try and remove it.
Deletedo you not have screens on your windows and doors? I don't get many flying bugs inside, but I do get the creepy crawly kind and I have no idea how they get in, slaters and earwigs from the garden and the occasional cockroach. I love the 'sphinx' cats on the armchair.
ReplyDeleteYes, we do have screens everywhere. I think most of the bugs were getting in where we have the air conditioner in the window. There is a slight gap when the sash is raised to accommodate the air conditioner unit. We never had too much of a problem in other years but this year there are just so many flying insects I suppose the percentage getting in is higher. I've put stuffing in the gap now and hope it helps :)
DeleteI did indeed feel more than a little unwell at the things which made you queasy.
ReplyDeleteNot even the funnies (excellent though they are) took it away. Probably because the same routine is observed here.
I escort bugs (and spiders) outside. And get lots of exercise doing so.
Loved your very true poem too.
"Exercise" - that's a good way to look at it :)
DeleteI have to confess I don't let mosquitoes or fruit flies go free. If they're in the house, they're doomed. But other bugs get a pass. If we had poisonous spiders I might have to reconsider, though.
I'm glad we are not the only one's with glass and paper at the ready to help bees etc on their way.
ReplyDeleteLove the poem it says it all.
Briony
x
I think you have lots of company, Briony! Good company, if I do say so myself. lol
DeleteTrue to life poem on bugs *huge smile*. NEVER again link bacjk to old poems of yours ;) I think i spent all of an hour just reading through old posts of yours ... well procrastinating - instead of weeding in the windy, cool thing that goes for Summer here today - in good company (you) was much needed. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI've done that, too, Charlotte - somehow the time slips away when reading other bloggers' older posts.
DeleteI had a feeling I knew what you would write about bugs today and sure enough you did :D
BUGS
ReplyDeleteSay what you like but
Bugs Bunny
Is very funny.
Compared with him
His enemies seem very dim
Like Elmer Fudd or Yosemite Sam
Bugs doesn’t give a damn
Just looks them in the eye
And with a cheerful cry
Asks, “What’s up Doc?”
In spite of his floppy lugs
I wish I could be
More like Bugs.
Bugs is my favourite!!!
DeleteBugs is about the most laid back cartoon character ever. I wonder how he'd handle various unnamed political leaders in the world today, YP? Would he be able to maintain his cheer?
DeleteDo you know the word "lugs" in Canada Jenny? Here in the north of England it is a slang word for ears but you probably worked that out already. I think that Bugs Bunny would make a more effective US president than the current one.
DeleteI agree. A bag of rocks would make a more effective one, too.
DeleteAnd yes, we use lugs the same way here. Being a former British colony and all :) We also use it as a term of affection for a large, strong, but gentle, usually male, person, as in "ya big lug, you".
Quite good. The last line, out goes one, in comes three is so true. I like the photo of the big eared cow moth. I've not seen them flying about here.
ReplyDeleteHah! And I bet you're glad about that :)
DeleteFlying cows? Gah. Pigeons are bad enough.
DeleteAnt ar the big problem here so you could write poem only about ants!
ReplyDeleteNow that is a great suggestion, Red - "ants" will be a future topic! Thank you.
DeleteI find it difficult to kill bugs, I'm afraid next time around I might come back as one.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Well, you'd be safe in my house unless you were a mosquito or a fruit fly (see my reply to Elephant's Child, above). It seems you'd be safe in a number of homes if the bloggers here are any indication :)
DeleteI'm the same way with bugs. I try to save as many lives as possible :)
ReplyDeleteAnd one of our cats LOVES moths. She is definitely a "moth connoisseur".
I'm glad to hear so many folks like to let bugs go. What is it about cats? They're heartless little furballs, aren't they? lol
DeleteJenny, you have excelled yourself. I just love both the poem and the funnies, especially the top one. We've been suffering a mix of very hot sun/heavy rain, and for us, too the bugs are out in force. I've been sussed as 'sweet meat' and have the bites to prove it. I have two short poems this week, the first prompted by my bites, and the second as a surprise result from a little research:
ReplyDeleteItch, Itch, scratch, scratch
There’s a bug I’m trying to catch
Will it fly, or will it run?
I’d like to kick it on its bottom.
Did you know that
Bug is the past tense of
An old Scottish verb, ‘To
Big’, which means to
Build or to
Excavate (earth) into
A pile?
Source: Collins
English Dictionary, Fourth
Edition, 1998.
Not found on the
Internet.
Dictionary 1 : Internet 0.
I loved your poem, SpikesBestMate! I'd like to kick them on their... bottom as well!
DeleteAnd: I'd like to big all bugs until they've been bugged...
I love your first poem especially! When bugs are flying around me I feel itchy even if they don't land.
DeleteBut bug bites are no fun; I sympathize. That's why mosquitoes don't get a pass from me.
I did not know that definition of the word "bug" - thank you for that! And thanks for contributing again, SpikesBestMate.
You are so good, Jenny! I admit, I do repatriate all spiders and especially bees, but ants, I'm sorry. They are summarily executed.
ReplyDeleteLove the funnies! They always lift my spirits. I especially love the tiny little guy who is afraid of bugs! Soooo cute!
That is one sweet kitten, isn't it?
DeleteI'm the same way with mosquitoes and fruit flies as you are with ants. If they come in the house, they're doomed.
Haha! Good one, Diane.
ReplyDeleteYour poem is great and so true! Our cats like nothing better than to get a bug in the house. They will go crazy chasing even the tiniest little gnat. I always love the funnies you find!
ReplyDeleteMaybe cats think that bugs are just very tiny birds! I'm glad you enjoy the funnies. I'll tell you my secret for finding topic-related funnies. Just do a search for "(topic) icanhascheezburger" and it will return a bunch of images from the icanhas.cheezburger.com website :)
DeleteThank you!
DeleteOh dear Jenny,
ReplyDeleteYou’re better than me.
I kill them all
And smile with glee.
LOL! Another short snapper poem - thanks, Marie :)
DeleteHumans must be ruthless with bugs. There is eternal war between humanity and buggery.
DeleteA flying insect grabs my cat's full attention. At least he isn't walking between my feet.
ReplyDeleteHere's a thought: why don't I package up all my moths and send them to you; then you can release one whenever you need a distraction for Toby :)
DeleteWe have two spotters, but mostly they just stare. Looking seems to satisfy them. They are not working cats and they possibly don’t like their meat rare.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very buggy year here also. The stink bugs came first, followed by the flower eating Japanese beetle and soon the nymphs of the horror of all horror bugs, the Spotted Lantern Bug, will mature and go about their job of defoliating the earth.
I just looked up the spotted lantern bug and - wow, it really IS a major pest there, isn't it? Eeek. And ugh, too. I think I might change my mind about live and let live with those guys.
DeleteThat's funny about your cats!
I love the big dog who is scared of a spider. Your poem is adorable, of course, and I'm not surprised that you release the bugs outside because you're so nice. I smack the crap out of bugs, but of course for me, "bug" means a palmetto bug. We've had a lot of lizards in the house lately--probably because we had a few days of heavy rains. They like to sneak in through any tiny gap they can find and sun themselves on the windowsills.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Our bugs are all small, Janie. If we had your bugs here I think I'd be a "smacker" too. Do the lizards bother you? The pictures I see make them look almost cute. The small ones. Maybe.
DeleteYour funnies had me giggling with glee.
ReplyDeleteExcellent poem, and those new bugs coming in are your job security, you know.
Yes, now if only I could strike for higher wages :)
DeleteGlad to make you giggle!
Hahaha I loved your poem especially the last line about one goes out and in come three. That is so true. We don't really gets moths just flies and wasps. I'm not as kind as you, I just wack them with my bug bat. That electrocutes them. I'm sorry I don't save their lives but I do throw their dead bodies out the back door. ;)
ReplyDeleteElectrocution is a quick death and there isn't the "squish" factor to consider ... lol on throwing the dead bodies out. That's really for you, though, isn't it? ha ha!
DeleteI'm surprised you don't get moths. They're around in swarms at our outside lights or our lighted windows after dark. Maybe you just go to bed too early to see them? :)
Ahh bugs. Hello there my frie
ReplyDeletePressed publish too quickly! I hope you are doing well, friend. The poem is just like life lately. I like it’s tone of equanimity.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear from you, 37p. I was beginning to worry - no posts lately. We are fine and I hope you are too. Yes, it seems we just get a handle on one crappy thing and three more crappy things happen ...
DeleteYour poem made me chuckle! The bugs haven't been too bad at this end of the country, but we're now past the season of giant mosquitoes that are easy to see and swat; and into the tiny silent species that attack in squadrons and you don't even realize you've been chewed until you start to itch. Why isn't there ever some virus that threatens mosquitoes with extinction?
ReplyDeleteLOL - but think of the bats; what would they eat? :D It's disconcerting how extinct-proof the bugs are, isn't it?
DeleteThat's true - I do love our bats. They're so cute!
DeleteThere's wriggly ones and squiggly ones and ones that make me itch
ReplyDeleteAnd then the kind of fluttery ones that make me want to twitch
The naughty little blighters come sneaking through the door
I swish them with a towel till they drop dead on the floor.
They sneak under the covers and bite you on the bum
And leave a trail of tiny bites right across your tum.
They whizz around the lightbulbs when I try to go to sleep
And then across the bathroom floor they try their best to creep
They buzz around the lightbulb and make me feel quite dizzy
And when they flap around my head I get into a tizzy
Hah! Well done, Cherie! You've captured all the bug things that drive us crazy :)
DeleteLove your work, jenny_o. I want to save the bugs but I usually squash them. Sorry. The bugs were starting to get to be a problem but we had a record low yesterday and I think they are back to hiding again.
ReplyDeleteIt's strange how they can dip in and out of our lives depending on the weather. We had a cold spell after I wrote this post and they all disappeared again.
Deletedear Jenny how powerfully you painted your bugs encounters within your wonderful wonderful poem :)))
ReplyDeletei was able to see you doing all this lol
reminded me winter evenings when bugs start to take over the house ,we avoid to lit front yard light so we can avoid bugs that light attracts
while you live in such lush and wooded area bugs must have been quite a problem and your post has made me think about it
though life is such wonderful and miraculous thing to observe indeed no matter to what kind it belongs :)
poem is so amusing and beautifully done :)
i enjoyed the funnies so much ,each ,made me laugh ,cats are breathtakingly adorable and totally opposite from their real life image lol
wishing you most happy splendid summer my precious friend !
hugs!
Avoiding the light is a good way to avoid light-loving bugs! Even though it looks like we have a lot of woods around us, we really don't - those trees are just at the edge of our property line. We have a cottage near the shore that is close to swampland, and the bugs there are a million times worse! For a number of reasons we have not lived there in recent years but I remember it well :)
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed the funnies, my friend! Stay safe and - hopefully - cool in your hot climate :)
This resonates! I don't have cats playing with bugs but I still rescue anything that seems to be in danger, usually lizards. Spiders are left alone , mosquitoes squished if possible, flies and fleas receive no mercy.
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm not so live and let live as I thought!
There are definitely bugs that I squish, too, kylie - the same ones you mention. I can't bear to kill moths, though. They don't hurt anything, they don't carry disease - their only crime is to be irresistibly drawn to light!
Delete