THE CANKERWORM’S CONFESSION

Much peace, for Day 9 of National Poetry Writing Month, the prompt is:

Try writing your own poem in the voice of an animal or plant, or a poem that describes a specific animal or plant with references to historical events or scientific facts.

Here is my poem:

THE CANKERWORM’S CONFESSION

By Farah Lawal Harris, 2026

Few know my name,

referring to me as

the green wiggly thing on a string,

floating on a strand of silk

like your neighborhood Spider-Man.

I come from a troubled home:

in autumn,

squirrels roam free

and eat as they please;

in the spring,

dust covers everything,

making dogs and humans sneeze.

All I know is destruction.

All I cause is destruction—

bore holes in the same leaves that birthed me.

Don’t let my size fool you.

I may look harmless,

but I possess the strength

to ruin a whole oak tree.

Yes, little young unassuming me,

blowing in the breeze

on a single silk string.