A friend in need

All summer long we’ve fought
our battles
…you and I.

You’ve wanted access to my refuse
or, into my domain
I’ve spent my time
ensuring doors and any cracks
were sealed against your
endless attempts to intrude

Outside is where you belong
with all the other bugs
as far away from me as can be
So,
I cannot explain
today when I saw your plight
half of your body poking out
between the shingles
the rest of it trapped
I realised you couldn’t move back
forward, up or down
and you have been the bane of
my life
why did I help so that you
were free to be on your way

Is that what makes a friend?

~*~

© Daydreamertoo      *All rights reserved

As I’m allergic to a few of these little buggers, I have spent most of the summer trying to avoid them at all costs but today I saw an earwig, yes, a pest but, it was caught between the wooden tiles/shingles on the wall outside. It was half out and stuck, couldn’t move and it little legs and head were quite frantic. So, I thought, about leaving it to its fate and then thought, would I want to be left if I was stuck like that too?  So, I got an old blunt knife and prised the gap open wide enough for it to drop out… thought that might be called: ‘what is a friend’ over at Carry on Tuesday.

Shared with dVerse Poets OpenLinkNight #61
Carry on Tuesday #172 What is a friend?

Author: Daydreamer

I live on a beautiful island in Atlantic Canada.

34 thoughts on “A friend in need”

  1. Brenda, that is hilarious actually–sorry for the allergies. I’m a lover of insects, they fascinate me–however, do not love roaches, fruit flies, flour beetles or earwigs. Still, sometimes you have to save them 🙂 a fun read, especially with your thoughtful elucidation at the end. Friends do help each other out of tight spots…:-)

  4. Confession # … o I don’t know … when I was little I had a pet fly … actually it was a pet bug, because I had removed the wings … I fed it some jam every day and it lived to be a 100 (NOT) … I think it lived to be 3 months so … proper funeral was held … it’s name was Louie … RIP, Louie 🙂

  7. this is so funny, Bren ~ i just “made friends” with a daddy long legs spider on my balcony recently. {smile} i talked to her until the second night in a row of watching her capture her dinner. she proved too brutal for me, despite her delicate appearance.
    ♥

  8. Nicely written. I love the question you end with. Guess this unknown warmth is what begins friendship 🙂

  9. Funny the things we do that we never think we would…but change our minds when the situation presents itself. Love this capture.

  10. Good for you! I try to do it, but there have been a few times this summer that I’ve gotten very frustrated with flies and I haven’t been as open as I’d like to be.

    Very cute, but also more-than-cute, poem. Thanks. k.

  13. Bren, it is a good question to ask oneself. I don’t like bugs in the house, but when we are in their territory it is a different matter. If, you believe in reincarnation, well, we could be that bug someday, I suppose. Good on you for helping the little creature.

    Pamela

  15. amazing what will tickle the muse…and heaven knows an earwig certainly has enough legs to do that and then some. You rock! To take this “experience” and draw from it to the point you present us with this fantastic write…and a most thought provoking end…wonderful!

  16. Kindness to all living things. I think it shows your heart here. We have the giant palmettos and they are resistant to all. I just pray to keep them down and out of sight. They fly too and are like mini-helicopters in the room at night. Awful! Loved the poem. Thanks for the comments on my poems!

  17. Ah. it is but compassion, and that’s part of being a friend 🙂 Though I wonder, would you still be compassionate if it happens again?

  22. This poem really reveals your compassionate heart. So sweet to rescue an ugly, unwanted being. Still a being, and though just a bug, I think you connected to your higher humanity. Loved it.

  23. really relate here as only last week I found myself rescuing a fallen bluebottle into the bath, even as I was doing it I was thinking ‘what on earth’ but I could’nt see it struggle so I lifted it free on a little piece of rolled paper and placed it somewhere safer ~ ~ like me you can’t watch suffering in any shape of form ~ but ironically I’ll still aim for that fly spray ~ hugs Lib x

  25. I’ve been helpful to bugs too. I would have a hard time leaving it to its fate seeing it struggle like that like you did…certainly a “friendly” gesture. Really enjoyed this.

  27. Bren, you are definitely a good neighbor to help the poor little thing! Definitely does not hurt to be kind to all creatures!

  28. This is lovely…….very Buddhist:) Now karma owes you one extrication next time you get stuck. (It can happen. I’ve been known to get stuck on either side of a turnstile, hee hee. And once found myself, hugely pregnant, locked inside my car, straddling the emergency brake, to the dumbfounded amazement of a man passing by.) I was trying to get to the right hand door, which opened from the inside. Cant remember why the left didnt.)

  29. Let live to fight on fairer ground? A fine and true reflection. I have similar moments where kindness emerges against enemies. I’ve made spiders my friends, I’ve opened windows for bees and wasps–but I’ve never felt kindly toward a mosquito or no-see-um or tick! So I love the stanza where you describe the efforts of barricading en route to your surprise benevolence. As to your question, I think a friend is even more.

  33. very interesting….its like the scripture that says to pray for your enemy…who are you willing to help, even one you detest? def thought provoking bren…

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