• ashirk@gmail.com
  • Kijabe, Kenya
Kenya
Tiny Stars. . .

Tiny Stars. . .

Downpour, darkness

Tiny stars emerge

Crawl from unseen holes

Stretch translucent wings

Shoot, swoop, swarm

All is motion for a time

Circles of light

Wings drop

Beauty dissipates

Until next rainy season.

*every year the first big rain brings thousands of flying termites crawling out of the ground. Their wings are all over the ground right now, evidence that the long awaited rain soaked deep down. The monkeys eat them, and we put towels under the doors to keep them from climbing in. There haven’t been quite as many this year as last, perhaps because the rains are so late, but they still came, marking the beginning of a time where the dry valley will come back to life, gardens will grow, and we will hopefully see relief from the threatened famine.

Here’s a video of their emergence last year: Flying Termites