By Sophie Craven
There’s a wasp on my bathroom floor that’s been dying for three days.
Every time I wee, I watch him, and every time I flush, I forget.
He’s still there, still dying, each time I return. What should I do?
What would you do? If I gather him in a glass and take him
outside, I’ll forget forever, and somehow
I don’t want that. But it seems a strangely human
thing to do, to leave him there inside to die, and I’m not sure
I’m comfortable with that either. I could kill him.
I could kill him… but I do remember reading something
about the signals wasps send when they’re under attack. God knows,
I don’t want to get hurt. And besides, what would a clean death
look like, for a wasp, anyway? If I knew, I might do it.
I might. Instead what will most likely happen is
I’ll continue weeing, continue watching. Continue flushing, continue
forgetting. Until eventually, this hospiced wasp will twitch its last.
My cat will probably eat it, and will come to me someday
with a swollen mouth.