111th Weekly Poetry Contest honorable mention: To the Creature that Lives in the Ceiling at Work

by markdanowsky

First I think you’re just a fly

somehow managed your way

into a ceiling fluorescent fixture

I’m still thinking you’re a fly

until I hear you shifting your weight

near another light panel

Then you’re all over the place

and I’m not focusing at all

on the report I was typing

I lean back to consider the option

of telling someone about you

leading to that sinking feeling

Tattling is not the same as an adult

and in this case it’s your life

on the line

I opt to turn out the light

believing this will placate you—

it seems to do the trick

Previously appeared in The Broadkill Review July/August issue 2016

111th Weekly Poetry Contest