Fly

A single fly, wafting lazily near my clean dishes,
Reminded me that, in recent summers,
My kitchen needed fly strips, changed weekly, covered
In dehydrated corpses of fruit flies and house flies.

I would find small collections of fly eggs,
Fly strike, in bowls of food left out.
And because we were perpetually short on
Fridge space, there were always bowls of food left out.

I would often remove the eggs and eat the food anyway,
Considering that most people around the world
Dealt with far worse food,
If roughly comparable conditions.

Every once in a while I have a clear view of
What my life looked like from a normal perspective
And I stand amazed by the sight of
A single fly, wafting lazily.