First Friday Poetry February 2025

I'm joining Beverly A Baird & Linda Schueler again in a year long poetry practice. On the first Friday of each Month we, and anyone else who joins, writes a poem and shares it. This year the focus is going to be on using poems to inspire us.

This month we are going to be "basing our poem (“How to be…”) on this post from Margaret Simon, who was inspired by Sheri Vasinda, who was inspired by Barry Lane. Often this is very true in life: you are inspired by someone who is inspired by someone else and so on."
This month we chose an animal, researched it, and then had to come up with someway to write a poem about it that was more than a list of facts.

Many years ago Nancy, one of my favourite students, did a research project on earwigs. I've never looked at them the same since. Did you know that earwigs are one of the few non-eusocial insects who nurture their eggs and young until they are prepared to head off on their own? If you find a clutch of them somewhere in your garden, they are most likely all from the same clutch. There may well be older siblings helping their mother look after the younger ones. My fascination with the social lives of these creatures, especially their maternal behaviour, prompted me me to focus on this aspect of their lives in my poem this month. 

how to be an earwig

welcome to the world little one
you might never meet your father,
but don’t fret
your tender hearted mother
has fashioned a cosy home
for you and your eggmates

she will take good care of you,
keeping you clean, safe and warm
until you hatch

satisfying you and your sibling nymphs
won't be easy, but your mama
will ensure you are well nourished

then, after your first moult,
she will open the nest door
and free you 

under her guidance and protection of course,

to forage on your own

be careful you don’t get lost
and come home when she calls

your loving mama will

keep her eyes on you

through all your instars,
even unto when 

you have acquired
your own wings and cerci
and set off into the wild world
in search of your own mate
and your own home.

If I have piqued your interest in earwigs, here is a fascinating article about the European Earwig, the kind we have around here where I live.