there is a hurt in me / rattling the way the wasp did, trapped / beneath neon lights / as i watched its dying writhes / and i saw the way it lifted up from / the glow that burned it / as if it were / a phoenix / and i saw the way it flew / and fell back / to the ceiling again / and i think about how / i have always been amazed by / the strength of insects, how they / skitter and drag themselves forward on / crumpled legs and crushed bodies / how they are filled with hope / even though it hurts / and maybe that's what makes me afraid of them / maybe it's just the fact that something so small / is so much stronger / than me