Thursday, February 13, 2025

parasocial parasite

A round worm wriggles,  
its body stretched across 
the sidewalk’s still water,  
as if it knows its place  
is in warm intestines—  
like mine.  
Is it still a parasite  
without a host?  
Is "parasite" a word shaped by context,  
like how I am a wife,  
but when my husband dies,  
I’ll be a widow?  
Or is it a constant,  
like when my mother died—  
and I was still just her daughter?  
Perhaps I am not wife, widow, or daughter,  
but just another parasite
also seeking a home.

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