The dragonfly buzzes about
minding its own business,
iridescent wings flashing
in the sunlight.
Humans shuffle along the
dirty sidewalk, tied down
by the vitriol dripping from
their mouths.
_______________________________
This poem was inspired by the poetry of Ko Un which I just discovered thanks to Via Negativa and I’ve been devouring as much of his work as I can find on the internet today. I highly recommend reading Via Negativa, the website of poet Dave Bonta and contributing poet Luisa Igloria whose work I adore. Their site is on my Google reader and I read them every single day and stand amazed.
Shared on dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night.
Charlotte Hamrick 
great work on the contrast here between dragonfly with wings flashing in the sunlight and then the tied down people on the dirty boardwalk…haven’t heard about ko un yet…but will check out the links
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Really neat piece. I will definitely have to check Via Negative out. I love how the first stanza is of nature and the second man. Very cool. Thanks
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i think i would rather be a dragon fly any day…i find them to be beautiful…and tied down to anything (well almost anything) does not sound like a good thing…i will check out this poetry style too…
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Well penned piece! Love dragon flies 🙂
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I like the scene you painted here…makes me want to be a dragonfly ~
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Love this: “tied down
by the vitriol dripping from
their mouths”
Quite the opposites, aren’t we? Would that we could fly, we might consider closing our mouths.
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I like the contrast – pretty dragonflies with their iridescent wings vs. humans dripping vitriolic remarks… I had to smile at the characterization of humans, but… it’s true for many
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I read somewhere that dragonflies don’t have mouths. They can’t eat and die of starvation after a few days. Their one and only mission in life is to make little dragonflies. I don’t know if this is accurate or not, but that’s what I read.
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Well, I couldn’t NOT find out if dragonflies are mouthless (even though I’ve seen them up close many times and never noticed it missing) so I googled it. In fact, they are voracious eaters and will actually bite people IF provoked. Link: http://www.dragonfly-site.com/do-dragonflies-bite.html
I’ve always loved dragonflies – they seem so self-possessed and calm.
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Very interesting voice and contrasting elements with the shortlife spans of the free flying dragon fly to the self restrained human. I enjoyed the read very much.
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Extremely good at contrasting the iridescent brevity of life with the oblivion of people in a rut, not realizing how much they need to value it.
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Wonderful contrast here. If only the dragonfly and human could swap places for a day…
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The contrast between insect and humans, harsh yet revelatory. Sardonic wit with an edge to cut thru so much hypocrisy and pretence.
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Love all the contrasts you highlight between the two verses; just the juxtapositioning of the two makes it a very effective presentation of the thesis of freedom and captivity.
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Thanks to everyone for your visit and comments. If only we humans retained the lessons of nature. Gossip infects the gossiper, holding him/her down in the dirt. I really hate gossip.
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