For the prisoner paying the price
just a punishment may not suffice.
The best use of time
may be learning to rhyme,
making sure that it isn’t too nice
a process of course.
You don’t want people thinking a life of crime
leads to loads of free poetry workshops.
I haven’t seen you for over a year, now. Maybe two. I wonder what’s the longest time I’ve gone without seeing you? Where have you been, Earwig? Sometimes seen around a plughole, but rarely round a lughole. I hope you’ve not gone all extinct like some birds have – your flame extinguished, your name no more than a name with nothing to call it to. Earwig, you may be small, but the world wouldn’t be as big without you.
I remember seeing you scarpering along for the first time. I was with my dad. Maybe I was four. You seemed funny and a bit scary, but because dad was there, I wasn’t too frightened. He seemed glad to see you – maybe because you are a bit funny. Maybe because he was glad to tell me a new word, a new insect, a bit more about our world. I always smile when I see you, now – unless I’m depressed. There will always be something of my dad in you, but with more legs.
Love,
John