rent

I had this old place
I could barely afford
one bedroom
hardwood floors
and solid walls
noise
couldn't get through
It suited me
I didn't have to pretend
to be human

One morning
I noticed
a cockroach
stuck
on
a
glob of
dried Maple
Syrup on the
counter
it twitched there
and flailed wildly before
twitching again
curious

that night I turned out
the lights
once my eyes adjusted
I could see the walls moving
churning in the darkness
I flicked on the light by my bed
and the walls scattered with roaches
they were everywhere
later I discovered a hive beneath my kitchen sink
I don't know what they were eating
I was too broke to bring home groceries
I put the legs of my bed in coffee cans filled
with water so they wouldn't crawl over me while I
was sleeping
days passed by and I got used to them
they were a part of the scenery
we were roommates
until a little white mouse moved in

I heard crunching late one night and flicked on the light
there was the mouse chewing on a roach
he had its body in its tiny paws
chewing on the legs while the roach was trying to get away
every night was the same thing and I learned that that was what life was all
about: there's always someone out there waiting to chew your goddamn legs off

when I moved out
the roaches were still there
I could have sworn I saw them wave
at me when I left
but the mouse was nowhere to be seen