Dragonflies
By Armando Ortiz
Live by bodies of water,
natural ponds, manmade lakes,
hovering over the surface,
dancing by the water’s edge.
Their transparent wings,
like cellulose propellers,
glide and shimmer
above marble fountains.
Free to roam as they please,
they float effortlessly,
perpetually in flight,
delicate veins threading
through gossamer wings.
Nature’s fabric clothes them
in colors of their territory–
metallic green turning violet chrome,
pastel lavender fading to gray,
bright yellow tails igniting
into red tiger stripes.
Where there is one,
there are others,
flitting near water,
a beauty to behold,
a life to ponder.
Japan, shaped like a dragonfly,
calls them tombo—
keepers of the sky,
decorations of flight.
