Ode on a Cockroach, Negev Desert, Israel

You scared me once, cockroach! But that was in the past.

A distant memory, no more!

You moved too fast and

I hated you with a fierce lust for your death. Vermin!

I was sleeping when you ran across me hand. Scared me awake, bastard.

Bastard. Go to hell in a handcart.

Helpless, I leapt to my feet,

fled to the nearest retreat.

He was a handsome lad, Kibbutznik.

Let me share his single bed for the rest of that night. 

Rescued, we cuddled close.

I felt safe, briefly. Snug as a bug in a rug.