Dragonflies

Their flying prowess is astonishing

I’m not sure if I’m watching damselflies or dragonflies

Whichever, they dart around like World War One aces

Changing direction at will and accelerating rapidly

Picking off smaller insects with enthusiasm

Half a dozen bluebottle flies have taken shelter on my jeans

So I shake them off and send them into battle

As I follow the drama I’m distracted

By an eagle soaring through mottled clouds

Flying into and out of view

Then I realize there’s two

They circle

Drift closer

I call them with the whistle I learnt a half-life ago

Amazingly they circle closer

Until they are within the ambit of the trees

Then one peels off

The other circulates

For a time

Listening to my call

Then I resume my scrutiny of the dragonflies

In close immediacy

With the wind

 

 

David Trudel   ©  2013