on
a humid summer night
temps
still in the high seventies
streetlights
not working
i
step from my car
as
a large fluttering bug
perhaps
a moth
or
furry flying beetle
afloat
in the darkness
lands
on my lips
and
although i do not see it
nor
hear it
i
feel its touch
in
the very center of my closed mouth
smack
in the middle of my pressed lips
as
i blow and brush the bug away quickly
automatically
feeling
its dimensions only slightly
responding
without fear or disgust
but
surprised
as
i know instantly
i
have not been assaulted
but
rather sweetly touched
and
although my rational mind
recognizes
this event as merely probability expressed
a
happenstance of fate
a
random intersection of invertebrate and human
i
am also aware i have been kissed by an unseen stranger
a
princess living in the body of a bug
the
light but explicit tapping of god’s finger
calling
forth my attention
“wake
up,” the bug commands
“we’re
in this together, man,
flying
around in the muggy dark
come
kiss strangers with me,
and
let us fly in each other’s company
as
often as we can bear”
and we do