ONE FLY TO ANOTHER

by Melissa Balmain

Caitlyn Johnstone / Chesapeake Bay Program via Flickr under CC BY-NC 2.0

Invasive lanternflies have been spreading across the United States for over a decade, leaving behind poop that bees are transforming into a less sweet, sometimes savory, honey. —Smithsonian Magazine, December 12, 2025

Humans are eating our poop—
and they’re buying the stuff with good money—
even though they admit it tastes funny
and we’re far from their favorite group.

My intel? It’s straight from a bee:
they’re the ones turning lanternfly doody
into something befitting a foodie.
Our crap’s the new triple-cream brie!

You’re acting surprised—what’s the reason?
This is hardly the first bit of buzz
that we’ve heard about people this season—

can’t you tell, from the wackos they follow,
and the bull they believe “just because,”
there isn’t a thing they won’t swallow?

Melissa Balmain edits Light, North America's longest-running journal of comic verse. Her latest book of poetry is Satan Talks to His Therapist (Paul Dry Books).

CIRCUS ELEPHANTS

by Ed Shacklee

Dave Granlund Cartoons

In Cleveland, pachyderms regroup

as hired clowns arrive in troop

to fan the flames and jump the hoop,

rousing rubes they hope to dupe.

With talk so cheap our shoulders droop,

reporters keep us in the loop,

but pomp cannot conceal the poop—

so little news, so much to scoop.

Ed Shacklee is a public defender who represents young people in the District of Columbia. He is working on a bestiary.