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
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