Inspired from a creative writing course prompt, this was the first poem I had written in years, and is about the lifecycle of a fascinating insect. ‘A legacy from prehistoric times, beautiful and brightly coloured.’

Dance Of The Dragonfly
The bottom of a lake its home
A stout brown creature born from mud
With jutting bottom lip
A ‘mask’; capturing
Devouring snails and tadpoles
No pupa stage for the aquatic nymph
Growing stronger and scaling stems
Through water tinted pink at sunrise
Lured towards the light
Until the glittering surface shatters.

Jewel-like eyes glow
Four virgin wings unfurl
And majestically
The dragonfly soars
A legacy from prehistoric times
Beautiful and brightly coloured
Turquoise and shimmering green.

In time, a mate is sought
The sequence of a tandem dance begins
Clasping, twisting, receiving
Rising, plunging, dispersing
Into the water, united
The cycle begins again.