The Insect Thing Poem by Gert Strydom

Before we can dance
on the wind
we have to crawl
from place to place.

Before turning into butterflies
we have to be caterpillars
that ravage plants, aphids,
and even baby ants.
With growth and knowledge
we find maturity
and new perspectives
rise out of experience.

Flying together like dragonflies
over stretches of shining water
and praying to the bright sun,
the great blue sky
the day flashes past

to the dark night
and we have to face both
and the demands of life
to understand the depths of love
and in order to survive.