My life is mean and lowly; my dwelling is foul and base.
My nest is in your lapel and sleeves; I feed on your skin and flesh.
My poison rivals fleas and mosquitoes; my kind includes gnats and ants, tiny.
Craftily passed on in dark obscurity, none knows when I came to be.
Not yet wiped out, weapons sheathed; remaining pests multiply and seethe.
Observed at first as if not there; picked off, perhaps, as if left spare.
Swiftly fleeing to avoid disaster; deeply hiding, almost a master.
Hiding in walls, fearing pecks most; lurking in sand, a more perilous post.
Dwelling on the head, transformed with things; thus turning white to black it brings.
Claiming to serve, relying on flaws and lowliness; named an official, shaming the pure and blameless.
Stroking proudly against warm rebellion; combing and scratching, weary of lazy Ji Kang's inaction.
Good or bad, despising witch divination; how could they foreknow such information?
Extremely pleased by brave men's shooting; would rather bear a wise man's scooting.
Foolish youths tired of rich fare; sitting blankly like fat gourds, unaware.
Feasting on heroic meals at butcher's gate; also enough to sate your hunger's weight.
My body is like a withered tree; only bones cling to skin, you see.
Sucking and gnawing, what gain at last? Even a greedy mouth gets a repast.
At night, sleep loses sweet dreams; by day, sitting wounds deep thoughts, it seems.
Often exposing ugly forms; sometimes mocked by the clean, scornful norms.
Scratching breaks two fingernails; catching and covering tires both eyes, it fails.
Expecting me not to retaliate; blaming others for what's hard to create.
Hot bath is still lenient grace; dismemberment is the fitting place.
Officials greedy, sharpening their teeth; great strength still enough to bequeath.
Licking chaff reaches small homes; how can this forbid whips and domes?
I wish to be an autumn bird of prey; do not let creeping grass hold sway.
Lice gone, itching ailments cease; greed punished, complaints and griefs release.
The benevolent hate harming others; do not say it wounds my motherly favors.