The first time I moved away from home was to a basement apartment
infested with house centipedes.
These things were bigger but not longer than normal centipedes
and had more legs
big enough that even in near darkness you could see them zip across the floor
I'd turn on the lights in my bathroom and they'd go running
I'd move a box on the floor and uncover a pile of them
I shook out my clothes and banged my shoes against the floor before I wore them
When I moved back home that summer
(a disappointment to myself and probably everyone else)
I unpacked a box and something scurried out
My cat chased it across the floor
I'd brought one of them home and all I could think was
Oh no, I've brought the infestation here. I've infected everyone.
We never had centipedes like this here before
Their legs were so long you could see little spots and stripes on them
You couldn't tell the difference between their legs and their antennae
Sometimes they'd be as big as my hand
and sometimes they'd be tiny
I never knew which was worse
I had to use shoes to kill them because nothing else was strong enough
When I went back to school I lived in the residence
Always two floors up
Never even saw a spider
This year I moved into a new apartment
The first week I met my neighbours
They told me they had problems with bedbugs
The building had been infested six times
So keep my eyes open, watch the corners of my walls
Check my bedsheets for bloodstains
I get dizzy a lot
I lie down in the middle of the floor, where ever I am
I try to tell myself just make it to the bed
just make it to the kitchen and get some water
just make it to your backpack and get some pills
Sometimes I can't, so I just have to wait until it passes, on the cold floor
I stare at the corners of the walls
they get dirty so fast
the dirt is moving
I think
I've done it again
