Viper’s Bugloss by Mary Kain
You set your bicycle aside before a clump of flowers
Amongst the grasses, beside the ragwort
Electric blue petals
red stamens sparkling
like firecrackers exploding from each bloom.
A cathedral spire of snakes heads
Unfurling from a speckled stem
A milliner’s creation in each floret
flamboyant headdresses
set upon a stage for an insect’s banquet.
Cobalt… lapis lazuli… cerulean…
Loved by butterflies bees and hoverflies
three rare moths, and one rare weevil
Mogulones geographicus
A stripy little insect with a great long snout!
