Praying mantises, those arthropod thugs,
prey upon other, unfortunate, bugs,
"But who prays for the praying mantis?", I ask,
"And what lurks behind that killer's mask?"
After the males have fulfilled their function,
the females seem to lack compunction,
practicing sexual cannibalism, they say,
enjoying a nice meal after a roll in the hay.
While males consider this distasteful,
females say, "it's just not being wasteful".
Is the praying mantis truly mean and vile?
In the insect world, he stands on trial.
Speaking for aphids or ants or anything little,
I argue vigorously against acquittal.
In a province exploited
by prejudiced seasons,
a minority ebony rose
is taunted by prominent
i v o r y l i l i e s.
Biased blossoms ridiculing
tones of its charcoal petals,
yet blooming in the same
quilt of soil as each other.
Soothing raindrops
never discriminate though,
as scents of petrichor
fuse with floret elegance,
nor does the sun only shine
for the privileged,
as all flora sunbathes in
the passions of its rays,
refreshed by the same
migrating gentle breeze.
Scarlet beetles
munch upon lily leaves,
whilst aphids suck
upon rose sepals.
Creepy crawlies
unconcerned with
a p p e a r a n c e,
massacre and spread
like an epidemic.
Until the arrival of
feathered immigrants,
who feast upon an
assortment of morsels.
In any garden,
birds care not for
whom they sing.
They defecate on all flowers,
aware all will wilt eventually.
Winter frost oppresses
regardless of culture,
so birds flee.
But, when roses crumble,
they re-emerge
fresher and brighter,
as their red thorns remain
protecting their right
to flourish freely under
fresh blue skies..
F O R E V E R
Sundrops dapple umbrageous trees
strewing uncut diamonds, littering the path
with ambient flickers of what lies beyond.
Sundrops freckle ocean's surface
accenting the ripples that pattern the waves,
nuzzling playful kisses toward the warm beach.
Sundrops seduce the wayward wind
pirouetting with the aphids blissful dance,
a frenzied tarantella across my lips.
Found in fields and forests
Feeds on slugs and aphids
Friendly towards gardens
For us, a light of hope
For courtship purposes
Flashing light, it displays
Firefly is magical
Heqtit spoke to the People
Who's selfishness: wishes to smear the
need of these people. Who strands there
own individual want to compromise the
need of people.
He stood before them and we asked him to be quiet.
We told him not to ruffle the feathers of these ultramean
verdictive wasps. We couldn't convey to him our need to
be said the rabbit. These wasps are not honeybees.
And that ain't honey that ya'll squawking over. We told
Mucky the Frog to chill and when the wasp finish eating the
sweet honeydews produced by the aphids. Can't tell him nothing.
He went over there where the wasp were
looking to snack on the
sap suckers, knowing these wasp would get him.
tongue out and hungry. On one stalk was about twenty aphids
Mucky went ah slerping all of them gone. Then he got to
where the wasp were and one wasp told him gone frog.
Mucky said slerp, slerp and then the wasp got'em. The big wasp
told him he was Zbutes I Ego, I found out later
they called him the Ego Tamer!
I found a large glass container in an antique store.
My panoptic vision for it became so much more...
A bottle garden that would bring me such pleasure,
so, it grew into a tiny jungle of plants to treasure.
I nurtured it quite tenderly for almost two years
but one morning, what I found left me in tears.
Tiny mites and aphids stripped all the foliage clean.
I'll burn my bottle garden and pests with kerosene.
From deep inside her complex nest
She rules her colony
And sees that all the others there
Her orders they obey.
Hundreds of her daughters there live.
Her strict rules they all fear.
Their fathers now all of them dead.
Only females live here.
Each one has well defined duties
And daily they must work,
Cleaning and fettling this huge nest.
But beware those who shirk.
A long evolved social structure
And all know where they stand,
To keep the colony as one
Accepting queen’s command.
Those daughters can’t attract the males
For she made each sterile
So that they have no distractions
And to queen stay servile.
Wingless, they cannot fly away
But may crawl from the nest
To milk honeydew from aphids.
Taste fresh juice at its best.
Each springtime the queen will grow wings
To fly and find the males
And so becomes fertile again,
Producing more females.
The queen ant lives for some decades.
Every spring, eggs she lays.
Each daughter worn out within months
And males last but two days.
It was never my intent to collect the creepy crawlers
but I couldn't make myself swat them with a broom.
I thought they might be useful one day, on brawlers
who make trouble, like aphids on roses in bloom.
So, the meshed bag became the receptacle I used
to keep them alive. One by one, I joined them together
but fed them daily. Of spider abuse I'd not be accused!
I watched them interact in the prison tied with a tether.
There was no fighting among them when there were three
Respectfully, they kept their distance in separate corners
even when I threw in a fly, a moth and a tiny dead flea.
I wondered if they died, would there have been mourners?
It seems arachnids could teach humans a lesson in humanity
When my bag began to move on its own, I knew it was time
to set them free. You may question my sanity and the inanity
of releasing the creatures but keeping them would be a crime.
Where would they best be turned loose in one fell swoop?
The rose garden! Infested with pests on which they'd feast!
I opened the bag carefully and they marched as a troop,
conquering heroes of the Rose War, each bug eyed beast!
after Ho Chi Minh
I
The stone basin holds
still water. The still water
drinks the arid sponge
as rays of pure energy
slake their thirst on
the ebon wings of crows
II
Yangtze flows from widows peak
pooling briefly in the lock
of a tired eye. Dirt
and salt cry brackish tears
before leaping from sallow chin,
like rain from languid boughs
III
Frogs turn dirges beyond
translucent glass, their croaks
fold and crease the air
putting dusk on the shelf.
Aphids eat the pithy stalks
and drown in sudden morning dew.
IV
No callused hand washes
in the same basin twice
V
The kettle boils, pallid
phantoms push through iron
walls. Prescient tea leaves show
time’s current—fish swim
upstream. Two worlds away,
a young girl draws a bath.
VI
Forehead donning liquid rosaries,
each dawn anoints a king anew
Each afternoon, grains of rice
cling to one another, fulfilled.
Ink spills quickly each evening,
the white page laps at pitch waters.
VII
Eleemosynary sunlight burns
through the keyhole, tumblers
click in the lock. The stone basin
is once again filled with still water.
I'm the fairy of the garden
I protect it, cure and guard it
from the beetles and the lice
and the army of the aphids
I'm revered, I'm beloved
like a queen around the globe
even preserved from the cold
jealously kept more than gold
I eat aphids, I eat lice
I' m pretty, red and spotted
save the crops, save the oranges
after Our Lady named appropriate.
3/13/23
Third Place: Constance La France- Writing Challenge L Word Contest Poetry Contest
In my favorite store the "Book Nook",
on a leaf I saw a ladybug reading a book!
She looked up with the tiniest smile,
said, "Hello, have a seat, read awhile."
Astounded I was by this clever little bug,
an insect that I just wanted to hug
and found myself engaged in a conversation,
about the wisdom of the insect nation.
So profound and wise I found her to be,
she read to me, while swinging her tiny feet;
said she, with tiny voice, "Did you know,
that my species allows the plants to grow?"
"We dine on thousands of aphids, you see;
while they get pollinated by the bees.
To faeries I often give many rides,
throughout the gardens, far and wide."
"Shall I tell my cousins of your garden needs?
I assure you, with our work you'll be pleased."
So, about three thousand I did invite
and they keep our garden growing just right.
2-21-2023
Nursery Rhyme Poetry Contest
Eve Roper
It seems to be snowing but it’s aphids.
They look like cotton or dandelion fluff.
You wouldn’t want them on your lashes.
They cling to grass, screens & other stuff.
You wouldn’t think aphids are alive, ‘til
you take a closer look - they unhook
and fly away, like the great hymn. Still,
I first saw them at Dad’s. They’re off the hook.
On plants, ladybugs enjoy them as a snack.
Oh no! Pesticide is sometimes needed when
aphids gather in great numbers and unpack.
To memorialize them, I scribble with a poet’s pen.
10/14/2022
Moments fly off and leave a trail
behind you like dust clouds.
Most settle somewhere
in the forgotten, become irretrievable,
no longer connected to your life.
Some survive and accumulate
on the sticky frame of what holds
you together, particles which,
by themselves, mean nothing,
but in number become the narrative
of your past.
Some find their way here,
arguing significance, others
bubble up as if defying gravity,
free of purpose, life's loose coin.
You spend much of your time
sorting through the odd collection,
arranging into orders
of magnitude, of pain, or joy
or how much they've shaped
who you are.
In the quiet still of evenings
when you are alone,
they seem to reanimate
and gorge like aphids
on the branches of your life.
Sleep is no refuge. They come back
in dreams dressed in different guises,
playing out the variations on a secret
fear or grind away trying to resolve
something you left
incomplete last week
or a lifetime ago. Each morning
as you come to, they rush in
to reassemble you, adding more,
and at the same time,
letting a little more of you go.
brown plant stems now green
succulent new flower buds
aphids thick coating
Bringing luck to all on whom she lands,
her six propellers tickle the hand.
With spotted Elytra of red and black
symmetrical patterns to say stay back,
to predators who would harm this beauty;
the Ladybug will always be a real cutie.
She has a sense of smell within her feet,
her sense of direction you just can’t beat.
A farmer’s friend she keeps away aphids,
and she won’t harm crops like katydids.
Though beware hungry birds little armored girl;
hey gardeners give this sweet helper a whirl.
1-13-2022
Insects Poetry Contest
Angela Tune
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