Saturday, February 12, 2011

The Dragonfly By Louise Bogan

The Dragonfly
By Louise Bogan
You are made of almost nothing
But of enough
To be great eyes
And diaphanous double vans;
To be ceaseless movement,
Unending hunger
Grappling love.
Link between water and air,
Earth repels you.
Light touches you only to shift into iridescence
Upon your body and wings.
Twice-born, predator,
You split into the heat.
Swift beyond calculation or capture
You dart into the shadow
Which consumes you.
You rocket into the day.
But at last, when the wind flattens the grasses,
For you, the design and purpose stop.
And you fall
With the other husks of summer.

5 comments:

erin said...

You are made of almost nothing
But of enough


as we are made of almost nothing but of enough.

With the fall of husks of summer I felt something inside, the drying and heat of summer, which right now seems beyond reasoning.

A beautiful poem, Marion. Have a rich and bright weekend.

xo
erin

ds said...

yes, i agree with erin. And then we dart into the shadow which consumes us.

It is a glorious poem, Marion. Thank you much for sharing it.

Kelly said...

What a marvelous poem for you, Marion, my dragonfly friend!

* said...

"Unending hunger
Grappling love.
Link between water and air,
Earth repels you.
Light touches you only to shift into iridescence
Upon your body and wings."

And the last stanza...unreal, how beautiful this poem is! Thank you for it! (and it fits you, your dragonfly theme so perfectly!)

Wine and Words said...

This poem was like a roller coaster. A delicate beginning and then POWER POWER POWER with a surrendered ending. I loved it!