Mercy Oath
I have mercy on spiders and crickets and snakes.
I swerve on the highway for animals’ sakes,
but I swat at mosquitoes and execute flies
when they land on my food or dive bomb my eyes.
I do not like insects to invade my bod
like noseeums that dive in a suicide squad.
I poison leaf cutters and stomp on each roach
and execute scorpions that dare to encroach
on my personal space. There’s a place here for all,
but not on my floor or pillow or wall.
Though I don’t wish to be overly cruel,
each thing in its place is the usual rule.
Ladybugs, dragonflies, butterflies and
hoppers and roly-bugs are simply grand.
I’ll rescue bees when they fall in my pool.
Wasp nests I’ll leave as a usual rule
if they are no danger to human or cats.,
and my tejas are havens for dozens of bats.
Possums in my bushes and nests in each tree
are not a problem. They don’t bother me.
We’re all placed in this world to subsist with each other
which means we must learn to exist with each other.
So I here take a vow to hurt no living thing
that doesn’t eat plants or bite, pinch or sting.
The prompt today is mercy.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
Yes, I’m terrified when a squirrel runs out in front of me.
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Yikes! Maybe it’s the same suspect that killed Frank! Maybe it’s a serial killer.. 😁
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There is an irony in there somewhere … I swear? I agree. Why do people eat other warm-blooded mammals, then shed tears over hunters and elephants? For example? It’s an empathy we have. Like most I try to avoid the killing, yet it happens. Part of the cycle. Cheers Jamie
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I am terrified of scorpions. Especially the little brown and yellow lethal ones. I’m glad you deal with them. I can cope with everything else, but not scorpions.
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Luckily you don’t have to. Smart move. They have to be the ugliest creatures on earth.
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Love this poem! 🙂
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Thanks, Debbie
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