The Mayfly

The Mayfly

 

I count myself fortunate for nearby is a lake

Where in one month a year the lake starts to shake

Out of its depths comes the strangest of beings

They call it the mayfly it even flies without seeing

 

It all started last year with the laying of eggs

All for the sake of extending their being

From the egg comes the nymph and in stages it grows

And all out of one sights underwater who is to know

 

When the weather is right emergers start to appear

Name given to the mature nymph for its time to outgrow

Fights its way from its husk now becoming a dun

Waits patiently for its wings to dry before flying ashore

 

It heads straight for some bushes to finish its chore

Amazing feat for any creature especially a beginner

Where it lands on a twig or branch wait there is more

The dun then sheds its skin for it’s now called a spinner

 

Males wait for the right time to take to the air

Females quickly follow which create massive swarms

Their courtship is brief lasting for a few minutes rarely hours

As the ritual takes it course waters surface veers closer

 

When the romance is over females deposit their eggs

On the surface layer little tiny parcels for the lake bed

Males and females now exhausted gave their lives in this stint

They land dead wings outstretched and for this they’re called spent

 

Lives spent mostly in water very few match this feat

To break the lakes surface and for wings to take shape

Their life out of water lasts for merely one day

Gone till more new arrivals do the same thing next May

Reviews

[Tom]

A beautiful poem describing one of nature's many wonderful events, educational and enlightening, that takes skill !

Really enjoyed this, well penned !

[minisla]

Thank you.

[Sami Khalil]

A good write...Thank you for sharing...:)

[A.E. Surdam]

Really, really cute! You take a lesson and twist it and fold it around and create this magnificent poem that I can't help but love! Thank you for sharing! Great write!