ENTOMOLOGY by Arvis Viguls – translated by Jayde Will


 
 
Once there was a boy with a wasps’ nest
instead of a head.
One winter he went out without
a hat and all the wasps froze to death.
 
Once there was a boy who collected butterflies.
One time he caught a particularly rare
and beautiful one with a butterfly net.
It turned out to be his hand.
 
Once there was a girl with a black anthill
in her right armpit,
the ants moved relentlessly,
and she laughed the entire time.
 
Once there was a man with lice
and a woman with fleas,
but that wasn’t funny.
No, really, it’s not funny.
 
Once there was a man with an empty head,
however nature abhors emptiness.
So here he comes with a smile on his lips
and cockroaches in his head.
 
Once I accidently swallowed a fly,
it would still be flying around in my stomach,
if not for the horrible, insatiable spider,
that’s been living in me since birth.
 
 
 
Arvis Viguls
 
Jayde Will