Hornets By Gwil James Thomas

Their sting they say 

is like 

a    red    hot    nail 

hammered

through 

flesh 

and

potentially fatal - 

this was the beast 

that I’d 

been discussing 

with my friend 

the other day -

The Asian Hornet 

and with 

fear and excitement - 

I watch as it crawls 

over my wrist, 

fiercely flexing its 

abdomen, 

before the uninvited 

guest lands 

on my table helping 

itself to some 

discarded 7UP - 

I don’t like killing 

anything but 

thinking that it could 

be me or him, 

I bring my notepad 

down on him, 

squishing the bastard 

with the most action 

the notepad’s 

seen in months and 

finally pull 

the pad back up

to reveal its stinger 

still in tact 

like an upturned 

broken bottle, 

buried beneath 

beach sand -  

before 

I look down the table 

and notice two more 

orange and black shapes 

waddling towards me,

ready for flight and fight - 

it looks like that hornet 

had told his friends 

about me 

too.

About Gwil James Thomas:

“Gwil James Thomas is a poet, novelist and inept musician originally from the infamous city of Bristol, England. His work can be found widely in print and sometimes online in places such as 3AM, Punk Lit Press, Dodging The Rain and Expat Press, amongst others.  His most recent chapbook is titled Romance, Renegades & Riots - a split chapbook with the poet John D Robinson available via (Analog Submission Press). He lives in Northern Spain, where he lives, does odd jobs and tries his best to stay out of trouble.”