Between Dragonflies and Socrates By Rita S. Spalding

On the bridge a swarm of golden dragonflies.

They circle around me like a honeybee's hive;

not knowing if they want dinner or a dance,

standing still long enough for them to decide,

i laugh aloud at their circling dilemma.

The great blue heron balances on one leg.

He looks like a silent king with his thin crown;

perfectly held in place he weighs my existence,

flies into the setting sun nodding his wings,

as if he remembers me, his lost earth child.

Wind blows the sketch of lacy hemlocks my way.

Air delivers their itchiness into my fair soft skin;

suddenly while standing on this sacred bridge,

i think of brave sadness and cold suffering, 

Socrates’ dear enlightened hemlock tea.

Wondering how bad it all tasted for him to leave.

Past the wisdom and youth of this beautiful world;

wondering about the dragonflies and their song,

and if I’ll ever see their golden wings again,

the sun pulling a blanket of darkness to her chin.

Rita S. Spalding has had poems published in numerous anthologies and magazines. Her first book, Abstract Ribbons, was published in 1992. A second book, The Eighth, is currently at a publisher. She has received awards for poetry from Jefferson Community and Technical College, Elizabethtown Community College, National Library of Poetry, Kentucky Monthly Magazine and the Kentucky State Poetry Society. In 2024 she was a presenter at the Kentucky Writers Celebration in Danville and Historic Penn’s General Store, the Last Insomniacathon and she gives poetry readings regionally on a regular basis.