Synchronized Flashing Poem by gershon hepner

Synchronized Flashing



Flashing that is synchronized
is not yet an event
in the Olympic Games, though prized
by fireflies, content
to flash all night on trees in synch,
pulsating as they seek
a mate they offer not a drink
for kisses on the cheek,
or lifts in cars to take them home
before they make the beast
with two backs, or a poem
to kindle sexual interest as
you’ll find some poemhunters
will write, accompanied by jazz,
to please their Pocohontas.
No, they offer them a flash
of light, the mating call
of males which have the urge to crash
with females they can ball,
and horny females who are willing
with male flies they find dashing,
to link up, thus fulfilling
the rationale of flashing,
which is to be both fruitful and
to multiply, as God
told all the fauna, a command
which may seem somewhat odd
for creatures that we find disgust us,
like mosquitoes, but
makes sense for all the ones that trust us,
like women when they rut.
Extinction threatens fireflies,
their habitat is shrinking
as mankind cuts it down to size,
and there will be no blinking
in trees in Thailand in the night,
which makes me sad while thinking
how rare for me now is the sight
of women at me winking.

Inspired by an article in the NYT, December 11,2008, by Seth Mydans, describing the impending extinction of fireflies in Thailand (“Talking to Fireflies Before Their Flash Disappears”) :
Thousands of fireflies fill the branches of trees along the Mae Klong River here, flashing on and off in unison — relentless and silent, two times a second, deep into the night. Nobody knows why. “It’s one of the most amazing things you’ll ever see, ” said Sara M. Lewis, a professor of biology at Tufts University. Evolutionary biologists have studied synchronous flashing for 200 years, she said, and it remains a mystery. But it is a spectacle that may be disappearing. Like many creatures, from orangutans to salmon, fireflies appear to be suffering from the worldwide destruction, degradation and fragmentation of their habitats as human development spreads. Here, where the pulsating trees have drawn visitors on firefly-watching tours, the traffic of motorboats and the riverbank development seem to be driving the fireflies away. “It’s only recently that we are having these questions, ” said Christopher K. Cratsley, an expert on fireflies at Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts. “Where are they going? Why? What’s happening to them? ” A major threat, scientists believe, is light pollution, the same blurring of the skies that has made it difficult to see stars clearly in much of the modern world. Male fireflies flash to attract females, and when a female winks back, the two can meet and mate. Light from buildings or other urban development — or even reflected off low-lying clouds on a dark night — can blind or distract them. “Anyone with a bright flashlight or a set of headlights that sweeps through will make them get off rhythm for a while, and then they get back, ” said Lynn Frierson Faust, a firefly researcher from Knoxville, Tenn.


12/11/08

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