Midges and Moths

It must be spring by the tally of insects flattened on the windshield of Andrew's Jeep. Not until last summer did I realize how much of a hit their numbers had actually taken.



Midges and Moths


Me, worry about too few
bugs? Never - until now.

At the lake only a core crew
         of dragonflies
targets armies of mosquitoes.

Butterfly bushes bloom
into cabarets with few partygoers,
and the music of warblers sounds thin.

My alarm-o-meter barely budged.
I puzzled and shrugged
until a news report rattled me.

More subtle than insecticides,
the uptick in temps hampers
breeding, reduces reproduction

and trips alarm-o-meters
of bug counters everywhere.

Bird numbers plummet
without these bits of protein,
and crops needing pollinators,
                                              backslide.

Now, my own alarm-o-meter
plagues me like a persistent ear-worm.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor