Battle With The Flies - Diane Scantlebury

There’s a plague of flies in the house
But how did they get in?
Did they cling like a grim insect S.A.S.
And hitch hike on the rim of my bin?
Too many hovering and landing on my work tops
Creeping across the pots with their feathery legs,
Would it be cruel to crush them?
I know I must before they lay any eggs,
I open a window to shoo them out
But they round in a counter attack,
I flick them with a dishcloth
They keep on buzzing back,
Now there’s nothing for it
I reach for the spray, with reluctant will,
They’ve been given more than enough chances
It’s not in my nature to kill,
As they lie there stunned,
With legs waving frantically in the air
I feel a small pang of pity,
But sympathy is only fleeting
It’s defend yourself,
Or be killed in this city!

Diane Scantlebury