I’m sure the Maggot makes you feel quite ill.
The Rat-tailed Maggot’s more unpleasant still!
You’ll find him in a stagnant, foetid Pool
(A Cattle-trough’s a good place as a rule)
Suspended upside down, his usual station
Feasting on Decomposing Vegetation
And breathing through a Membranous Extension
Which penetrates the water’s surface tension.
When grown, our dear Protagonist pupates
(Along with many thousands of his mates)
In dried-up hollows made from Cattle Piss.
And then--the final metamorphosis--
Insect so foul.... Alack! What’s this I see?
A Drone Fly. Pretty. Like a stingless bee.
(Thwarted, the Poet flies into a rage....)
But oh, what Glory in the Larval Stage!
©1997, Attila the Stockbroker
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