SALUTE FIRST LADY!

Masitha Hoeane 1951 (Sharpeville)



(to a Ladybird)

Born and bred in a dotted dome
A cuticle covered curvy hillock
Cut and carried like a cute backpack
Lady too pretty to be a baddie

Seven dots on your li'lle back
Each a mark of creation's kiss
Plant-land is where you land
Plough and plod, peer then veer

To beckoning bloomy crowns
Wherein sits a copious pot of petals
A call to pollination transact
Passing on the baton of life

Full marks for your symbiotic project too
To pursue pesty parasites on the green
A payback in kind for nectar's sip and dip
Till all's done and all due dues paid

Then unfolds your majestic coat
Flip and flap wings black and silky
Six li'lle legs jerk the jet for take-off
Heave-ho up and away you go

Another light-house flower tower calls
How sweet the sight sound scenery
Floral aura fragrant finish with finesse
In the theatre of nature undisturbed

How come you first a lady then a bird?
Even then a birdie that never was
'Ladybird' frames fame in a name
Dames and dudes in one

Forever stay what you are where you are
Your eco-system rocks and echoes hope
Hail  you nature's brand ambassador
Luscious green wishes be to the First Lady!

About this poem

Written in celebration of natural beauty in a Ladybird l saw on maize stalk during a light drizzle. It counterpoints the gloomy world of environmental degradation, wars and rumours of wars, and waves of decimating pandemics. The poem is celebration of the natural beauty and easy grace of a tiny being in sustainable harmony with nature.

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Written on October 11, 2022

Submitted by mhoeane on October 11, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:07 min read
0

Quick analysis:

Scheme A XXBA BXXX XXXX XXXX XCXX XCXX AXXX XXXC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,142
Words 220
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Masitha Hoeane

Retired but active male, writer. Previously Dean of students Wits Technikon and Vaal University, Director of Arts Pretoria University. more…

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    "SALUTE FIRST LADY!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/143505/salute-first-lady!>.

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