Little Pretty Things

As insects go, lacewings seem to have nothing to catapult

them into significance, most of the time just showing off

for the centipedes and sawflies. I imagine they envy

wasps their ability to make a house for themselves,

and boll-weevils their cottony usefulness. It seems

lacewings have nothing to do but be beautiful,

and so are dangerous. I’ve known a few

of their human counterparts, and have been fooled

by their slender bodies, the golden alertness

of their eyes, and for a while have forgiven a meanness,

even a cruelty, at their core.

of aphids and other soft bodied creatures,

and devour their unhatched eggs. I suppose cruelty

has an evolutionary purpose, but whatever it is

I’ve learned to be wary of little pretty things

that exhibit it.

in the Asian Tiger mosquito that needs nothing

more than a dab of blood from a few of us

before it lays itself down to die. And the behavior

of the Praying Mantis after sex has become part

of the inhuman comedy. I hear that in some cultures

lacewings are called stinkflies because of an odor

they emit to deter enemies. I don’t know who

or what these enemies are, but I hope enough exist

to save this world from creatures that stink and murder

and look graceful, gorgeous even, in the doing.