Cleaning Up

It felt like spiders
Carefully crawling
Up our downspout

They crept in
Slowly, and softly,
And then all at once

And I am doing the dishes
The day after
Our dinner party

I’m a detective
Placing piecemeal
Plates on the counter

Investigating
How dinner
Went so wrong

And why I never
Called an exterminator
Or admitted

We had a problem
That tiptoed inside
In the middle of the night

Maybe I mistook
Those little bugs
For butterflies

Michael Kareff is a writer, lawyer, and former high school English teacher. His work explores queerness, memory, and the natural world. He lives in the Washington, DC area. Instagram: @michaelkareffpoetry