Cockroach & the Coffee Bean

'Twas greasy on the chopping block
With all the dishes strewn
In piles as the kitchen clock,
Was spot-lit by the moon.

A cockroach on a saucer sang
Of sorrows he had known,
And through the night his ballad rang
Song of a bug alone.

Then startled by a sidelong glance,
He spied a mottled shell,
And through his heart some bug-romance
Came chiming like a bell

And with the shred of strength still left
When all his limbs went numb,
He ambled over trying to heft
A dense and weighty crumb.

"Hey babe, what's shakin, sweetie-pie!"
He offered with a grin,
But waiting there for her reply,
His smarmy smile grew thin.

"I'll sweep her off her hidden feet,
The roach thought, "What the hell!"
"My little flea," he said let's meet"
In a Cockroach Motel?"

He left the address on a fly,
All dried up on a spoon,
To find the inn he'd seen nearby
Where he could rent a room.

The tiny lobby smelled as sweet,
As if in perfume drowned,
And suddenly he found his feet
Were fastened to the ground

His first concern arose for her
For whom he'd made a date,
But no invention would deter,
The certainty of fate.

So waiting for their rendezvous,
He shouted, growing hoarse,
Vain warnings from the deadly goo,
Consumed by dread remorse.

But in the middle of his grief
Some recognition grew,
And joyfully he felt relief
His love had been untrue.

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