when you see a roach
flat on its back
on a white tile floor
its dark spindly legs
waving in the air
when a day later
having forgotten it
you see that same roach
with those same legs
still waving
albeit more slowly now
as if subtly swimming
away from the ceiling
you glimpse the tenacity
of life and the cruelty
of living it
the battle between
what and that
how they fight
without any why or who
mediating
between the two
the war between
what lives and what exists
the insect and the tile
and the empty
air above
being stirred more
and more slowly
About the Author: Jacob Friesenhahn is the author of the poetry collection The Prayer of the Mantis (Kelsay Books, 2025). This poem appears on page 34 of The Prayer of the Mantis.