Viper’s Bugloss by Mary Kain

You set your bicycle aside before a clump of flowers

Amongst the grasses, beside the ragwort

Electric blue petals

red stamens sparkling

like firecrackers exploding from each bloom.

A cathedral spire of snakes heads

Unfurling from a speckled stem

A milliner’s creation in each floret

flamboyant headdresses

set upon a stage for an insect’s banquet.

Cobalt… lapis lazuli… cerulean…

Loved by butterflies bees and hoverflies

three rare moths, and one rare weevil

Mogulones geographicus

A stripy little insect with a great long snout!