I am the nastiest creature to curse
the fragments of forest edge habitats,
a flattened arachnid of prairie grass;
beware the emergence of my blood-thirst.
Warm mammal that tramples the earth unchecked,
my purpose is single and pestilent:
to ratchet your dermis. A malcontent,
a freckle, unnoticed as I infect
with clawing, tickling incubation
and spirochetal regurgitation
