Ladybug, Ladybug…
by Odin Roark

Please don’t fly away home,
not just yet.

Like a queen with mantled frock,
you continually fuss about,
your layered cover radiating perpetual care.

How modestly you tuck
beneath such colorful dress,
folding your silken sheen neatly,
personifying joy,
prompting child and adult alike to smile.

How gently we should hold this wonder of nature,
nestling warmly in the palm of man,
proffering perpetual innocence,
a subtle gift of pleasure,
never fretting for being such a
teeny, tiny treasure,
one of many intricate needlepoints of creation.