Daily Poem Entries

Mayflies

Mayflies

As the summer sun plays through the foliage of trees to pattern the pond in light, I watch the dance of mayflies above the water.

Deep in the water, the imperatives of past and future clash in this moment. Mayfly nymphs, caught in the forces of the moment, rise to the surface to take flight. Now, embracing the drive to procreate, they seek the loved one, in joy to float in the crystal light, bright jewels of fire against the shadows. The still air is laced with the complex trails of reflected sparks, this kaleidoscope of nature’s urgent order. They live for this one day of courting, joy, and death, a flash of lightning in the yearly gloom.

In the evening, when darkness broods upon the silent pool, the air no longer lit by the mayfly dance, the shaded depths brood upon the year of preparation now commenced.

brief the mayfly life
pure delight in ecstasy
and reason enough


Word count: 160
Form Haibun
For The Daily Poem, 10.28.24
Prompt: Write a Haibun about two competing forces of nature, but it’s a tragic love story like Romeo and Juliet.