In the Stomach of a Damselfly

DRAGONFLY
DRAGONFLY,
OH WHERE DID YOU
GO?
Isabella Chauvin
Entry One
Dragonfly dragonfly, where are you? On a cypress
knee, or under my shoe? Past the Nutria, past the
tupelo, all the the marshes and boardwalks. All past
the tourists with the cameras and daiquiris and beads
on their necks. Fly back to home, to the swamp we
may no longer know.
Entry Two
I the Cottonmouth may have a bad name, but how
would you like humans coming and stomping on
your fame? All I do is bask in the sun, catching small
creatures for food and good fun. Dragonfly’s flutter
with birds of a feather, and duck hunters hunt if
there’s good weather, but the hung up my cousin like
Halloween decoration, with Terry Jerry and my great
nanny Sue. So I hide in the bush till the moon is due.
Entry Three
Why did my mamma birth me as a Minow? Mamma
please tell me.
Why did my daddy never teach me to swim? Papa
please tell me.
My granny don’t visit me, my nanny don’t wish me
happy birthday, though I don’t care. I have no business
to tell, no place to be.
Except for the stomach of the DamselFly.