Saturday, March 19, 2011

The Wisdom of the Japanese Ladybird Beetle






The urgency of life
is welling up inside her
but in her wisdom
she'd rather wait
another year
for another summer
than lay an egg
on an occupied leaf.

She knows that
she'd be condemning
her offsprings
to a fate of
starvation and competition
with other children
of other females
over the nutrition
of a single leaf.

So she chooses to
forgo the chance
and save her eggs
for the coming winter,
when food would be scarce
and hard to find;
the nutrition would
help her survive.

The next year
another summer
and another chance
to occupy a leaf.
So she makes
a quick move
and lays her eggs,
protecting them against
other females like her.

The purpose of her life accomplished
she curls up into winter sleep;
upside down and legs bunched close
she shrivels up on a dead leaf.

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