Kafka in a microwave

"Hey look at that, its two cockroaches mating," I said pointing at two bugs mounted on top of each other. The three of us were walking down Sukumwit after stopping at a restaraunt for some libations and food. I had deep fried vegetables and we shared a tower of beer.

"Are they both alive," Mike said."Kick it see if its alive."

I pushed the toe of my shoe into one of the bugs. It didn't move. The other swayed its attenae and moved slightly.

"I think that one of them is dead and the other is feeding on its carcass," Stephen said.

"That's fucked up," Mike said.

"Look here come the ants to feed on the corpse," Stephen said. A row of ants marched along to the dead cockroach hoping like the living thriving larger insect to gain a meal. The living cockroach dragged the dead one a little bit on the tarmac to escape the scavenging ants. "What do cockroaches eat?"

"I think they eat anything," Mike said.

"I always see them late at night in the kitchen but they're not eating any food they're just scurrying around. I don't think they really like eating human food."

"Maybe they're content to just eat whatever is on the floor," Mike replied. "The other day when it rained a lot and the streets flooded there were cockroaches floating on the water."

"Were they alive," I asked joining the morbid conversation. Cockroaches always remind me of Franz Kafka. His story "metamorphisis," is about an office worker who wakes up one day as a gigantic insect. His consciousness disolves into that of a primitive insect while his folks are burdened with his care much to their chagrin. Often the insect is depicted as a cockroach. Every time that I see a cockroach I think of office workers and Kafka.

"I wonder if you can cook cockroaches," Mike said.

"Like in the microwave," Stephen asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. You'd probably want to put them in a glass bowl, with some saran wrap on top. Maybe a couple of them. See how long it takes for them to blow up."

"Probably only a minute or two. I wonder what would happen if you put them on the defrost mode, or popcorn," Stephen said.

We all laughed and continued our walk down the dark soi to our house.