Mosquito

Out of the corner of your eye
you see her
before you can hear her
buzz. . . .closer and closer
to your thick heat.

She lands in the dark
just at the edge of a finger,
ear or an elbow,
or a vulnerable

ankle

she pierces skin
like an artist of all needles
and let's her poison ooze
under the surface of the skin

an injection that stings
and makes you scratch
for days and into the night
as you try and sleep.

Only the humidity
and suffocation
of ninety degrees
can make it worse.

This dizzy dance
with a delicate mosquito
in the fading light
of summer.