Running in circles is not a good sign,

Unless you're a shark or a buzzard.

It usually means you've lost your mind,

Or are somehow at the end of the line

When it comes to life.

I see a beetle baking in the hot sun.

It's on the run in a circle.

Around and around!

And yet just four inches away is shade,

And three feet south, a tree,

And a place where he or she

Might be at peace for the rest of its days.

Yet it stays on the tarmac in blistering heat,

Wearing it's tiny feet out.

But maybe these circles are a sign,

Or maybe they just keep the beetle from thinking

About if there might be anything after

The end.

-jenn