DEDUCTION

DEDUCTION

DEDUCTION

Not the whitefly, nor the vine weevil,
nor the mealy bug, nor the scale insect,
nor woolly aphid, nor other viviparous aphid,
nor spider mite, nor any sap-sucker per se
but rather, one senses, the leaf miner
- lover of lamellae and interstices;
burrower between the host leaf’s
top and bottom sheets - yes,
the leaf miner, with its green-tinted
soft-focus view of the garden;
engineer of the long and winding
blister of its own meanderings...
least among pests, the leaf miner is surely
the apprentice poet of the piece.