On the Absence of Dragonflies and Damselflies

For the past three summers

I have noticed that dragonflies and damselflies

Are as scarce as happy cats.

I know the cause: poison made up to kill mosquitoes

Sprayed in large quantities by taxpayer-funded crews

Equipped with back-packs of poison

Or riding at night through subdivisions

Hissing our their poison.

The poison does two things:

Kills mosquitoes and kills dragonflies and damselflies.

True: mosquitoes are pernicious, dangerous,

Carrying disease, biting, sucking our blood,

But I miss the grace and joy

Of dragonflies and damselflies.

--July 3, 2013