Territorial Chaos: Insect Versus Human

—inspired by the painting Gemälde “Schleudern” by Michael Schoenholtz (Germany) 2014
            —for my Longfellow neighbors, together in courage

i
Above the garage
not far from the alley
it dangled
swaying in the wind
swirling with activity.
I hadn’t noticed the nest until October
when the leaves turned
and yellow began to fall.
In the process of decay
the aerial “head” developed holes
positioned as if eyes
it echoed George Orwell’s
dystopian novel 1984
underscored the phrase
Big Brother is watching you.

ii
In the midst of government overreach
ICE
Big Brother’s sibling
set its sights on the state of Minnesota.
Ribboned down city streets
equipped with peace not pepper spray
Minnesotans demonstrated the meaning
of resilience
community
and solidarity.

iii
A type of yellowjacket wasp
bald-faced hornets are a defensive group
attack when threatened.
There are two kinds of bald-faced
one is black-and-ivory
and the other is orange.

I’ll take the hornet over the liar any day.