The Dragonfly

A friend pointed me towards this poem this week... get your Kleenexes handy...

The Dragonfly

Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water
under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle
in a community of water beetles. They lived a simple
and comfortable life in the pond with few
disturbances and interruptions.

Once in a while, sadness would come to the community
when one of their fellow beetles would climb
the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again.
They knew when this happened; their friend was dead,
gone forever.

Then, one day, one little water beetle felt
an irresistible urge to climb up that stem.
However, he was determined that he would not leave forever.
He would come back and tell his friends
what he had found at the top.
When he reached the top and climbed out of the water
onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired,
and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap.

As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up,
he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly
with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying.

So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the beauty
of a whole new world and a far superior way of life
to what he had never known existed.
Then he remembered his beetle friends
and how they were thinking by now he was dead.
He wanted to go back to tell them,
and explain to them that he was now more alive
than he had ever been before.
His life had been fulfilled rather than ended.

But, his new body would not go down into the water.
He could not get back to tell his friends the good news.
Then he understood that their time would come,
when they, too, would know what he now knew.
So, he raised his wings and flew off
into his joyous new life!

~Author Unknown~
originally from MountainWings.com
and then from griefsjourney.com

I've always cried a little when I've seen the dragonflies because they remind me of my Uncle Thumper... this year they've reminded me of my Jim too... and now I'm certain I won't be seeing one without bawling for the rest of the summer.