Poem 3 from Up North

Cast in a Tiny War Walking   ©2011 by Renie B. Adams

Mosquitoes buzz and strike,

And deer flies land on me.

One, stationed on my nose, keeps watch.

We're soldiers eye to eye.

From under cover of buttercups

Chiggers surge and seize my socks.

They dig foxholes in my feet.

I'll kill them off with chemicals.

I search for allies in the sky

and sight a troop of dragonflies.

I see one dead upon the road.

Slammed flat by friendly tires.

The Day is hot and humid.

My hair's a dead weight on my head.

Walking is a wicked footslog—

Every hill is uphill.

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