A Poem by J R Turek

At My Demise

by J R Turek

When I get to the Pearly Gates
St. Peter will have a clipboard list
of every murder I’ve ever committed

and I’ll have to answer for them all
beginning with the big black ant
that roamed the hills of my comforter

in search of Sammy the Bear perched
on my pillow, smashing the intruder
with my bare hand back when I was five

and countless wasps, worms, mosquitos
that have hounded me since, crickets
in our basement, yellow-jackets in the walls

but never spiders as my grandmother swore
if you killed a spider in your home
you’d lose money, so spiders were spared.

Now, with nests of carpenter bees boring
through our deck, nesting in dozens of havens
droning, hovering, antagonizing our dogs

four cans of empty insecticide, inert belly-up bodies
still droves far from extinct buzz in my face
...now I wonder if I’ll ever meet St. Peter.

J R will be at The Gazebo on June 15th.

The Summer Gazebo Readings feature 4 author/poets each Monday evening in June, July and August, 7 pm at Schoolhouse Green in Oceanside, NY. See the links to the right for our schedule and directions. Bring a lawn chair and come on down!