On seeing the first Brimstone of Spring

[Charles Nicol]

By early September
They have chosen
A suitable patch of
Dense ivy or bramble
To while away the
Cold months from
Michaelmas to Lent
Dreaming of air
Tender leaves
Flowers and
Sunshine;
Harbingers of Spring
These are often the
First butterflies to be
Seen in our gardens
And country lanes;
Today one swooped
Past me flaunting his
Acid yellow wings
To land daintily on
A matching dandelion
For a quick shot of nectar;
The males always appear
A few weeks before the
Ladies and blat up and
Down the hedgerows
In puzzled frustration;
In May they perform
Dazzling aerial dances
As lurve is literally
In the air;
This fluttering zygosis
Produces the next
Generation of
Gonepteryx rhamni;
The next three
Allotropes of the
Sulphur require
Buckthorn; either
Purging or Alder
To host tic tac eggs
Bright green caterpillars
And the curious-corned
Chrysales
From which emerge
The new adults
To take their
Place in the
Summer sun;
The Brimstone
Is our longest-
Lived butterfly
But after a year
Its pointed wings
Are torn and scruffy
And it completes its
Life cycle as food for
Another creature
In accordance with
Nature's wise
Oeconomy