By: Marcia Beckford
Roly Poly, wood lice, pill or potato bug
Different names describe those involved.
A land crustacean, not a lice nor a bug
An Isopod or non insect arthropod.
They have modified gills on their sides, wouldn’t you know.
Unlike fish, they can’t survive underwater though
Though any environment with moisture is a must.
To convert water to oxygen to keep them robust.
Gardeners over plant your seeds as they live underground.
Tape your seedling stems, and give them beer to drown.
Those recyclers and detrivores will eat many things then poop
organic nutrients to feed and hydrate the soil in one swoop
Antennaed head, then armadillo-like oval with fourteen legs
It’s segmented body will roll into a ball, pretend it’s dead.
Sow bugs have two tails and can’t roll into a ball
get confused with roly, but are not the same at all.
There are men who make a dish they say taste like land shrimp.
Knowing that your food eats poop will sure make you shrink.
Who would eat an arthropod that can breathe from its anus.
Don’t choose the blues nor purples as they also have a virus
