I saw her on TV
We looked nothing alike
With her manicured nails
And long blonde curls
The camera lights
Framing her shirt
That said, “Parasites”
In big white letters
Everyone knew her
We all saw the video
Making the rounds
That made her famous
A man not unlike me
Swung at her pretty face
After she called him
something the beeps obscured
Now, with a mic in place of a fist
she wonders aloud
"Why we can’t all be friends?"
"Why can’t we have peace?"
All while
She stands there before millions
In her shirt harkening
Parasites
The bright lights
Of the news camera
Question not
Who these parasites are
Or what one does
With cockroaches
Or termites
Or ants
I know.
We know.
All of us should know
The inevitable outcome
When she says there's
Parasites
Within
These walls
That there’s only one end
but the sand against buried heads cools
So the news lady carries on
As if the shirt said “sports”
I sigh
wretchedly thinking that
like the man that made her famous
I want to hit her, too.
Tired
I look in the mirror, wondering
Maybe within me,
there was a cockroach after all
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A/N:
Written for Novel Allen's challenge. Information below:
A little commentary for today. If you've enjoyed this, please leave a like and an insight below. If you really enjoyed this, tips to fuel my coffee addiction are always appreciated. All formatting is designed for desktops. All my works can be found below:
About the Creator
Matthew J. Fromm
Full-time nerd, history enthusiast, and proprietor of arcane knowledge.
Here there be dragons, knights, castles, and quests (plus the occasional dose of absurdity).
I can be reached at [email protected]
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
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Arguments were carefully researched and presented
Eye opening
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The story invoked strong personal emotions

Comments (11)
great content i love it thanks
I love how rawly honest this feels.
Great take on the challenge, mine is done
Ha! She needs to add “I’m the” in front of parasites and drop the ‘s’ Is there a link to this clip?
We sometimes do have these kinda thought, don't we. Loved your take on this challenge!
Typical hypocrites, smiling insipidly in our faces while crucifying us, if only we could hit them all in the faces. Like politicians...the real parasites. Do they even want peace, whispering with the lady behind our backs. Great work...such awesome entries...the beasts awaken
"Why can’t we have peace?" . . . she wonders why! This is exactly the thought process of so many! You have stated it well.
I love this! Also, it makes me feel less weird about the one I'm about to publish( seeing you publish something new made me pause and read real quick)
I want to hit her, too. I think I'm more of an ant, though. A fire ant. Excellent entry, Matthew!
You played on the frustration and anger and self-loathing so well. So many layers to this, well done :)
Interesting animal choice!