Life Of An Insect

Can an insect teach us anything about our lives?  If an insect unintentionally tries to tell us something about ourselves, why should we listen?  

This next piece is from my 2007 chapbook titled "Manic Muse and Other Observations."

mayfly 

on the windshield one morning 

a newly hatched mayfly scurries 

around the clear glass surface. 

resisting the urge to sweep it away 

with wiperblades I begin driving. 

mayfly clings with suctioned legs 

to glass as the car's speed increases 

down the street. 

I think that any moment the mayfly 

will release and be gone, but no, 

it clings tightly even with one leg. 

in my mind I shout "let go you foolish 

insect, let go!  don't cling...you have wings 

so fly for heaven's sake!" 

finally hurricane-like wind wisks 

the clinging mayfly away in an instant, 

clear glass clear again. 

and in my mind a voice shouts at me 

"fly foolish man, fly!"  and stepping 

harder on the accelerator 

I search frantically for wings. 

Poem © 2007 by R. Burnett Baker