The Beetle

women in skirts along a dusty road
children in knickers playing with a beetle
men in rickety trucks taking their iron forged equipment down the road
the trucks moan
the woman wave goodbye
the men eat dust
the children provoke the beetle
the beetle is angry
the beetle escapes at night
the men descend from fields to forest
they drink whiskey by a campfire
the beetle walks into the woods
the women listen for news reports on a transistor radio
they pace during the night
the men rise at dawn
the children dream of the beetle
the beetle feeds it young
the women hang clothes on the line
the men never return
the air is still

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