The Beautiful Demoiselle

He's there again,
on the self-same leaf,
I'd swear it.
He wears it well,
his emerald green,
where nettles grow
by the fast-flowing stream:
Calopteryx virgo,
the dragonfly queen,
He's the Beautiful Demoiselle.

poem © Celia Warren 2012

Saw this dragonfly for the first time exactly a fortnight ago. The Beautiful Demoiselle likes fast flowing water, seen here near Blackpool Sands, where this freshwater stream flows on to the beach.

What a contrast to yesterday! After all my moaning about the fog, today we've had brilliant, deep blue skies, sparkling sea, and I have had sea-swim #4 of 2012: a double-dip this afternoon. The second swim is always the better one - when you're already acclimatised to the cool water, and can just walk in and swim comfortably. What a lovely day!

EDIT: Have revised the poem's words (above) in the light of the fact that this is in fact a MALE 'Beautiful Demoiselle'!