Ode to a Little Bug

aurelia willett

Oh, Little Bug scurrying among the dirt and leaves,

Always working, always doing something in this world.

You toil so much, thinking that no one can see you.

But I can see the difference that you are making. I

observe you as you dance across the ground, 

Picking up the pieces that others have left before;

Putting them back where they belong. 

Only when you are not moving, at dusk when you are still,

You sit with me and tell me of your friends, the trees. How

they are all connected to each other, how they interact. That,

without words, they know exactly what the other needs. And

as I sit and listen, I think of you and me. 

We are like them, 

When we root our feet into the ground, 

We speak our biggest words in the silence.

Little Bug, I see you all around me. 

I pick up twigs and leaves, 

Put them back where they belong, 

So that maybe, just this once, you will not have to. 

Because of you I look at the light with a different lens.

If I stand still long enough I can see your silhouette, 

Looking out as you perch on a fallen tree. 

I hear you. 

Even when you think you are not saying anything. 

So, Little Bug, don’t think you are not big in this world. For you are the

sunlight that shines through the trees and kisses my face, like the rain

that falls every Tuesday; without decoration or frill, I know your beauty

to anoint me. You are comforting, you are near. Do not be sorry, for you

have done nothing wrong. 

Continue to go about your work, I will stand back and

admire. If you ever need to speak, 

I will always extend my roots out to you.