like crickets 

there is a chorus of meal worms
a strange amber writhing
a toad will close its eyes
to swallow
a room full of crickets 
leaping over each other 
& asking louder & louder
if the grass has changed 
colors while they've been away
all the insects in the pet store
are waiting to be eaten
aren't they?
they have to know on
some level what their 
crowding means & when
i am in a crowded subway car
this is all i can think about
how we look like crickets 
legs thin & jutting
eyes posed wide & 
unable to blink 
click-clack of the train 
moving there are reptile 
shadows all moving too smooth 
a graffiti born predator
i go to the pet store
& i sit in front of cages
of prey & i tell them they 
need to find a way out
they need to leave now
before they're
taken & set in terrariums 
with hungry animals
who have to close their eyes
to swallow 
i never close my eyes when
i'm eating as a precaution 
the lights all go out
in the subway car & i consider
becoming a cricket down there
in the damp & the cool 
the lights all come on
& the people are all meal worms 
everyone of them around my ankles
like soft bracelets
it's me then it's me
i'm a the reptile moving 
gentle as water
a tongue scooping insects
i get on my crooked knees 
& eat them
eat all the people 
who had been in the subway car
with me 
& i get out & tell no one
what i've accomplished 
& run to the pet store 
to warn the crickets 
& the meal worms
to get out while they
can get out of the city
& go live with family 
in tall grass somewhere
tell stories about how close
your bodies were together
leg crossing leg
fingers eyes antennae
twitching with crowd