Just me

and maybe one or two of my sisters

running through dew damp lawns

of neighbors gone.

Each of us

or just me

carefully holding the clean washed

Best Foods mayonnaise jar

label washed off…not even a speck of paper left…

with nail holes punched in the top for air

to keep our catch alive.

Jar in one hand

lid in the other

running carefully on tiptoes

silently

cautiously

easily…easily…sneakily

slowly…now…

no need to scare them…

don’t break the glass…

do not disturb too much

the other creatures there.

We just want to catch one

and see up close

those things that sometimes stung

and where their stingers were

and what other weapons they possessed

that violated our summer skin.

You see one…

sneak up close…

slowly, slowly,

carefully

ease the clear glass jar over busy worker

then down

capturing the creature

who seems to help by flying up to glass.

Quickly we cap the jar and take our treasure home

to do our real work,

but first we sneak in bits

of ripped up grass

to ease the subject’s brief hiatus in our glass.