bug collection
does my bug collection scare you?
why do you find them so gruesome?
look into their prehistoric eyes
see the Mesozoic parties
held through their exoskeletal
back legs and pads
why are you afraid to look
at the diversity of life
and the history of death
through my formaldehyde
bottled protected collections
of insect brains and antennas
floating in viscous clouded baths
hearts harvested and washed
in phosphate buffer streams
we must preserve their vessels
in the exact condition we found them
finders keepers
but losers never weep
they simply share
their secrets for free
to students unworthy
of illuminating treaties
and shine their jars
their slides
their specimens
to people afraid to look
into praying mantis eyes
and stroke the outline
of crustacean bugs
dancing on chloroform
corroded vials
pill packs
and sealed cells
organized first by function
second by size
housed on the warped walls
share the galleria
with my lock-guarded
bug collection
in the adjacent room
LINK: https://allpoetry.com/poem/16483717-bug-collection--by-Colvet
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