The Wisdom of the Japanese Ladybird Beetle

The urgency of life

is welling up inside her

but in her wisdom

she'd rather wait

another year

for another summer

than lay an egg

on an occupied leaf.

She knows that

she'd be condemning

her offsprings

to a fate of

starvation and competition

with other children

of other females

over the nutrition

of a single leaf.

So she chooses to

forgo the chance

and save her eggs

for the coming winter,

when food would be scarce

and hard to find;

the nutrition would

help her survive.

The next year

another summer

and another chance

to occupy a leaf.

So she makes

a quick move

and lays her eggs,

protecting them against

other females like her.

The purpose of her life accomplished

she curls up into winter sleep;

upside down and legs bunched close

she shrivels up on a dead leaf.