Mayfly Martyrdom
Note: Expanded version of Mayfly Martyrs
Such an ethereal beauty.
Petite in size but large on life.
One would not expect its duty
is solely for procreation.
Yes, just this one, and nothing more,
certainty is its life’s station.
Each stage is mostly aquatic,
feeding on plants and detritus.
Its life cycle quite dramatic.
Swarming thick as oozing slurries,
males hover above clear water.
Intrigued, the young female hurries
through the misty mass, emerging
to oviposit fertile eggs.
She ends her watery purging,
laying eggs beneath the surface.
She flails, crumpled and moribund,
or served as a fish’s room service.
Males sail to land where they perish,
having served their one prime purpose.
The process nearly nightmarish.
But beauty – the perfect cycle –
perfect in the frantic frenzy,
sinless, sacrificial spiral.
Beauty is the unforgiving
two-year metamorphosis for
one day of long, lusty living.
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