C35
Collective Memory
Excerpt from novella: the mosquito says to the leaf, “am i in a trap?”

the mosquitos are nearly all dead.

i remember when i used to go camping
and i would dream of a world without them.
once i counted thirty-four mosquito bites
all of them around my ankles
and I remember that i counted them
because i couldn’t sleep from itching them.
i rubbed my ankles together all night.
i itched each one to the point of breaking skin.

but now that they’re nearly all dead, the birds and fish who subsisted on them have nearly all died or adapted,
mosquito eaters are mid-famine,
and anyone who relies on being stung
clings greedily to whatever portions they can find.

Samson Manoah