The Cockroach by Kevin Halligan

I watched a giant cockroach start to pace,
Skirting a ball of dust that road the floor.
At first he seemed quite satisfied to trace
A path between the wainscot and the door,
But soon he turned to jog in crooked rings,
Circling the rusty table leg and back,
And flipping right over to scratch his wings-
As if the victim of a mild attack
Of restlessness that worsened over time.
After a while, he climbed an open shelf
And stopped. He looked uncertain where to go.
Was this due payment for some vicious crime
A former life had led to? I don’t know
Except I thought I recognised myself.


This poem was okay...
So when I first looked at it, it seemed like the whole poem was just about the poet watching a cockroach move around, which is weird. The last sentence is really shocking (I can't really think of a better word other than this) compared to the rest of the poem, as the poet seems to be downgrading himself to a cockroach, which is often seen as a disgusting, ugly and annoying pest.

At first the cockroach knows where its going, then it gets 'nervous' and seems lost. The poet suggests reasons for this 'Was this due payment for some vicious crime/ A former life had led to?' and then lastly says that he sees himself in the cockroach- so he's comparing his life to how the cockroach is acting? So, it's an extended metaphor as the cockroach's actions are a metaphor for the poet's life?


To be honest I do not know what this poem is exactly talking about. In my view, I think the poet is comparing his life to the cockroach's actions- So when he was a child, he had his parents: They would care for him, teach him and guide him in life, the poet was happy with life, as it was simple?

'At first he seemed quite satisfied to trace/  A path between the wainscot and the door'
This gave me that idea, because compared to the later paths/ actions the cockroach does, tracing 'a path' seems relatively simple and straightforward, and the cockroach was 'quite satisfied' with it.

Then, the poet grows up and enters adulthood, where everything is so much more complicated and difficult- Nothing is straightforward about it.
'jog in crooked rings,/ Circling'
These are more complicated actions compared to the 'path' that the cockroach took earlier.

Another way that I got this idea is because of the rhyme scheme. When the poem was talking about how the cockroach was following its simple 'path' with a 'quite satisfied' feeling, the rhyme scheme is regular. When the poem starts talking about the cockroach getting more 'nervous' and 'lost', there is no rhyme scheme anymore. Does this mean that when the poet was a child, everything was laid in front of him, things were easy and straightforward? When he grows up, he sees that life is actually very complicated.


'Of restlessness that worsened over time'
The 'worsened over time' part convinced me to think that this poem is talking about the poet's life. This 'restlessness'- Does it mean the poet's uncertainty and nervousness towards life? Maybe.


'And stopped. He looked uncertain where to go.'
Here, I think it shows that the poet is kind of lost in life. He has been through so much, just as the cockroach has been to so many places (eg. the door, table leg, shelf) and has done so many different actions ('trace', 'jog', 'circling'). Maybe he has seen so much, experienced so much that he does not know what to think anymore and is a bit lost?

To be honest, that's all I can write about this poem right now, and I don't even know if my interpretation of it is ok. Poetry can really be hard sometimes, but I guess I'll keep trying...