Microscopic Beetles

by John Tustin

There are microscopic beetles 
mandibles in a whirring blur 
eating holes into the heels of my feet 
and burrowing inside 
each night as I sleep  


Slowly 
mechanically 
perfectly 
over years 
they will find the river of my bloodstream 
and paddle surely upward 
through my neck 
behind my eyes 
into my brain  


My question is – 
will there be anything left 
in there 
for them 
By the time they arrive?