A torpedo flight is interrupted,
by the side of the house,
a loud crack is followed,
by a fall to the ground.

Assuming it’s a cicada,
I view it from afar,
but its multi-hued carapace,
warrants further investigation.

In nature’s great irony,
this beautiful insect,
is the scarab, or tumblebug,
in other words known as dung beetle.

They take the world’s mess,
and roll it from view,
turning an embarrassing sleight,
to their own advantage.

Their dirty job, though, gets bigger,
as their source piles up,
we can lessen their load,
by more thinking, less talk.

Jason de Koff is an associate professor of agronomy and soil science at Tennessee State University. He lives in Nashville, TN with his wife, Jaclyn, and his two daughters, Tegan and Maizie. He has published in a number of scientific journals, and has 30 poems published or forthcoming in literary journals including The Daily Drunk Magazine.