I wonder how long, you awful parasite,
Shall share with me this little bed,
And make me, from my sweet dreams be lost,
By sucking blood from my poor head.
That’s an excerpt from To a Bed-Bug, by Sam Mbure, via Tukapamoja.
Jeannie and I returned from Liberia with some unusual bumps and bites, and so it seems especially appropriate today.
Tuka goes on:
Some months ago I posted my own poem about a cockroach I met in Sierra Leone. If you read it and compare, it will be clear that Sam is a professional poet and I am an economist.
I have heard that bed bugs can live without feeding for two years. They will come close to ruining your life.
Make sure you clean out your luggage thoroughly. Then put it in a airtight plastic bag. Then stick it in your hot attic. Oh, and wash all your clothes with hot water.
You don’t want to take the chance of letting any of the bed bugs successfully come back with you.
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/more-economics-haiku/