Surface tension : I watch the waterboatmen on my pond

First some definitions :

Surface tension: a fine film on the surface of the water

Waterboatmen/ water striders : small insects such as waterboatmen can ‘walk on water’ because their weight is not enough to penetrate the water.

                                                             Image courtesy of flickr

Poem : I watch the Waterboatmen

They skim with grace, darting freely along

Held up by the magic of surface tension.

I must be  — busy — busy — busy

I must hurry, I’m late for whatever keeps me busy.

Need to spin my own surface tension,

Or, I will sink, oh no, I will drop beneath the surface,

into the dark depths of the water.

Into a realisation of my own mortality.

One glimpse is enough, just now, thank-you

Enough to know that it’s there.