Over the Edge

Houseflies buzz around the room
landing on eyelids, stepping
out on naked arms and legs
making a beeline for open doors
& raised windows without screens.

The swarming pests accost sisters
pull clothes out of costume drawers
in the heat of the day, play dress-up,
don Amish prayer kapps, aprons, shawls
worn modesty, reeking of mold & mildew

a scent attracting & emboldening carrion lovers
that dive bomb earlobe & dare young hands
to roll paper swatters, swing, & hit them
with a decisive blow before its 1,000 eyes
noticed—annihilating mothers of maggots.

Labor Day signals summer’s end
months smacking of romance
now a distant past as October
hot spells suffocate, linger, radiate
heat like cast iron wood stoves.

Autumn bluebottle flies grow old,
drone erratically, circle human heads,
indoor cat boxes, & garbage cans,
well aware a chill awaits over
daylight’s edge, midnight’s other side.