Mosquitoes—Not So Bad?

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been subscribing to a ton of email newsletters from poetry publications and websites. One of them has been Poets.org, home of the American Academy of Poets. Honestly, I was a little surprised I hadn’t already subscribed to that one, I’m on their site all the time.

Now, there’s a poem-a-day in my inbox every morning for me to look forward to. Today’s poem was particularly intriguing, it made me think.

The embed feature is struggling, you can find “Mosquitoland” by Nikki Wallschlaeger here. I apologize about that and will try to figure out what the hiccup is ASAP.

I’m not a fan of mosquitoes. I don’t know many people who are particularly crazy about them, but Nikki Wallschlaeger offers a perspective I wasn’t expecting. It’s more empathetic to the mosquito, a likeness to human motherhood and nurturing maternity.

Plus, the last lines that compare the pestering mosquito bites to the impact that humans have had on the world is haunting.

As far as I can tell, Wallschlaeger has two poetry books out currently: Crawlspace (Bloof Books, 2017) and Houses (Horseless Press, 2015). I liked “Mosquitoland” quite a bit, so I’m considering looking for her other stuff. I love learning about new poets!