Red Paper Wasp

Red Paper Wasp

Watches over me, deciding

To ignore me, for

There’s so much to explore.

I’m but a microcosm

Of the world before him.

A man yells two yard over.

A swift response through song by the sparrow.

The wasp gets lost among the weeds, overgrown,

An ecstasy. And he returns, smelling my drink,

My sugary sweat,

An unclean scent.

Red hawk hovers above,

Circling in the reflection

Of the marble glass table.

I look up.

But it’s gone.

New predator.

The wasp lost in the weeds again.

Alexander P. Garza

Alexander P. Garza is a writer, actor, and educator from Houston, TX. His work can be seen in Nine Muses Poetry (forthcoming), Magnolia Review (forthcoming), Literal Magazine, and Broadway World Houston. He has worked on and offstage at The Alley Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, Main Street Theater, and Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company. Visit him on Instagram/Twitter, @alexanderpgarza, and on his website http://www.alexanderpgarza.com.