Catching up on Paul Brookes’ December challenge.

House centipede

We’ve always called them toothbrushes,
the zippy, bristle-legged insects
that clean out the cracks and crevices
in the walls, night workers,

scuttlers and scavengers,
killers of beetles and spiders,
picking their way through
the minutiae of house debris,

toothbrushes, tabby-brindled,
bottle brushed hunters,
yet I would rather the beetles
and toothless unseen mites.