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Per Diem for March 2021: Aerial Arthropods (flying insects)

Per Diem: Daily Haiku for March 2021 features Maureen Sexton’s collection on the theme of ‘Aerial Arthropods’. This is what Maureen has to say by way of an introduction to this theme:

Haiku offer a new way of seeing what we have always seen, but perhaps never been fully aware of. To capture the extraordinary in the ordinary, what better way is there than to explore flying insects? I’ve always been in awe of them, dragonflies, butterflies and bees in particular. The dragonfly’s wings are amazing, like stained glass windows. The beauty of butterflies is exquisite and bees are so important in pollinating plants to continue our existence. These small creatures are such an important part of our lives. They are essential to humans, yet they are so often either overlooked or even destroyed. They all have a place in a healthy ecosystem. Even the annoying mosquito has its place.

Haiku highlights our interconnectedness with each other as humans and as part of nature. The poet, Mary Oliver said, “I don’t want to end up simply having visited the world” and neither do I. I want to experience the world and be astounded every day. Here we have 31 haiku writers from around the world sharing their moments in time. I hope you enjoy connecting with them and their experiences with flying insects.

Guest Editor: Maureen Sexton

This Post Has 14 Comments

  4. Ladybugs, scary up close, but we love them for protecting our flowers. Though I remember the year when we had several more million of them than ‘normal’:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35603972

    wildflowers

    a two-spot ladybug

    turns me around

    Alan Summers
    Publication Credits: Acorn #31 2013 ed. Susan Antolin

    sunheat–
    also parted in death
    a ladybird’s wings

    Alan Summers
    Publication credit: Blithe Spirit vol. 8. no.3 (1998)
    Anthology: Together They Stood (Poetry Now 2004) Birdsong – a haiku sequence
    Collection: Does Fish-God Know (YTBN Press 2012)

  5. I really got into my damselflies and dragonflies at one time!

    basketball sessions
    Azure Damselflies shift
    the day’s heat around

    Alan Summers
    Publication credit:
    hedgerow #114 2017 ed. Caroline Skanne

    quick break–
    the Common Blue Damselflies
    gliding in packs

    Alan Summers
    unpublished?

    through the eye of a needle
    the dragonfly’s glint

    Alan Summers
    Publication Credit:
    Scope journal July 2015 vol. 61 no. 6 (Fellowship of Australian Writers Queensland)
    A 575 haiku! 🙂

      1. I really like that one;
        ’cause it rhymes!

        Mosquito’s statement
        I got the point
        Peter Sexton

  8. Besides insects’ importance in the
    ecosystem and the world as a whole,
    their beauty, adaptation, variety and
    intelligence is most intriguing to me.

    Such as:
    He comes to visit
    how does he know I am here?
    the pesky Mosquito

    The Preying Mantis
    camouflaged on a green plant
    poof! the Bee is lunch

    1. I agree Agustin. I really marvel at dragonflies. it’s believed they were here up to 300 million years ago where they once had a 2 feet wing span, whereas now they have a 2 to 5 inch wingspan. They adapt from being aquatic at larval stage to aerial and can fly straight up and down, hover and mate mid-air. They can see from every angle except behind them and they swarm for feeding and migration. Absolutely incredible! And there’s so much more. I enjoyed your haiku.

  9. What a great feature!!!

    Looking forward to this!

    hotel room drawer…
    one of Issa’s insects takes
    charge of the reading

    Alan Summers
    Publication Credit: Presence issue 50 (2014)

    soft desert rain
    the droppings of leaf-hopper insects
    from the tamarisk tree

    Alan Summers
    Publication Credit: brass bell: a haiku journal issue 1 April 2014

    over the nettles
    where I know I just can’t go
    orange-tip butterfly

    Alan Summers
    Publication credit: Presence 42 (2010)

    spooned from rioja
    the winefly stumbles
    over damp assam teabags

    Alan Summers
    Publication credit: Blithe Spirit 10:1 (2000)

    1. Love your haiku Alan. I love Issa’s haiku about insects too. I really enjoyed being guest editor with this theme.

  10. Wonderful idea for a theme, with Guest Editor Maureen Sexton. I remembered this poem, from our yard.

    Friday afternoon
    butterfly rests
    on the wind

    TINYWORDS
    haiku & other small poems
    5 October 2012

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