Creep

[rejectomorph]

Millipedes are turning up in the house with increasing frequency. Mostly they hang out around the kitchen and bathrooms, but once in a while one will venture into a carpeted region, where they are hard to see. So far I haven't stepped on any (as far as I know,) but its probably only a matter of time. When I spot one, I'll usually pick it up and put it back outdoors. They are probably not grateful, The house is much warmer than the outside, which is probably why they come in. If millipedes have a mythology, I'm probably one of their monsters.




Sunday Verse

Echo Room

by John Burnside


All night, the long-eared bats
flicker from tree to tree
through the scent of rain;

The luckiest survive for fifteen years,
quick, in the swim of the air
or skimming the earth

Where cats from the village
pluck them entire from the darkness.

To the Ancient Chinese
they meant luck;
to the Flemish, affection;

But here, what they most resemble
is desire:

All skitter and echo,
gathering, then forgetting.