Of Dragonflies and Love

I waded in the river bed and watched the ripples gleam,

And stood with arms outstretched and my feet submersed in the stream.

An upward glance revealed the sun above the cliffs and trees,

Its golden warm caresses only broken by the breeze.

I closed my eyes and reveled in the whooping of a hawk,

While wond’ring what its call might mean if it could truly talk,

When fluttering past my lashes and then twice around my head,

An iridescent dragonfly consumed my thoughts instead.

My eyelids sprung wide open and I instantly could see

Its dainty body hover, then decide to land on me.

Moments of such closeness with a dragonfly are rare,

And that intimate moment was as silent as a prayer.

For once I saw her fragile wings contented not to beat,

But moved her slender form along my arm with her six feet.

In anxious adulation o’er this rarity of things,

I could not keep myself from reaching out to touch her wings.

To my amazement she did not dart off in hasty flight,

But took my gentle touch without a start, however slight.

The purity of mutual love that moment we two shared

Was spoken in our silent bond and with no word declared.

And I am sure that with each heartbeat and my every sigh,

She knew my wish was that she’d rest with me and never fly.

It seems though, in her hectic life of flitting far and near

That she’d been brushed and swatted at and could not help but fear

That I was like all others and would soon lash out the same,

And sensing that she felt this way consumed my heart with shame.

I whispered, "Fairest damsel, place a little faith in me.

"When you but trust you’ll learn how glorious true love can be."

Such efforts to convince her of this fact did little good,

She could not place her faith in me, and would not think she should.

Instead, that little dragonfly would break my heart that day.

She fluttered all her wings in one small burst and flew away.

And as I watched her helplessly retreat among the reeds,

It seemed my soul too disappeared among the waving weeds.

My eyes then saw the sun and hawk, and sparkling river’s shore

No longer held the beauty that they had moments before.

For somehow the encounter that the two of us had shared

Has caused all things in life to only pale when they’re compared.

Since then, my heart’s been forced to hope and dream I’ll one day see

That daintiest of dragonflies that chose to land on me.

Should she be found, I vow no rest until I’ve changed her heart

And proven she can trust in me so we will never part.

Until then, I’ll keep searching in the clouded skies above,

And ponder all I’ve come to know of dragonflies and love.