Odonata

Can you imagine what it's like
to spend most of your life
as a bottom feeder,
crawling in the depths
and hiding from the light
and open air

And then to brave
the edge of your world,
submitting to a fatal craving
and offer yourself up
to a severe tempering
in the blinding light
of the sun

Until your skin hardens and cracks
and your insides burst open
and the shell of old armor falls off
exposing all your fragile flesh:

Not a death
but a birth
into a firework of
iridescence
and dragon flight?