wear and tear Oct 1, 2018

most insects don't die of old age:
snapped up by a bird or
paralyzed and drained by an eight legged cousin

in captivity they show the signs of time:
ragged butterfly wings,
a fly missing a leg or two,
which out among the leaves would make them just slow enough
just clumsy enough to be caught

tiny machines separated from their nature
metabolic accumulation in their joints and on their wires
rattling, grinding to a halt