Overwintering

Diana Woodcock

Beneath snow and bark,
on the backside of leaf,
tied to a branch with silken threads,
or submerged in water 

all winter long:
dragonfly nymphs,
praying mantises,
chrysalides

of swallowtail butterflies.
Time to take a walk, acquaint 
myself with egg, pupa, larval stages
of creatures that waltz and whizz,

march and crawl all around me
come spring and summer.  
Time to lift leaf litter, look 
under loose bark and rocks,

dig in mud on verges of ponds
and streams, observe surfaces
of dead wood and tree branches
through woodlands and gardens,

along river paths, around
abandoned lots and my own 
backyard. Time to walk slowly—
everything so quiet, so still.

This is faith—the way some
insects stick it out and wait, 
hibernate all winter 
near their summer habitat.  

Returning home, it occurs 
to me how precious 
it is to celebrate—though 
I might feel weary—

what exists 
in the seemingly 
nothingness of bleak,
bare January.

The Science

Insects use various methods to survive winter’s cold. Immature larvae seek the protection of leaf litter or similar shelters. Some insects replace the water in their bodies with glycerol, a type of antifreeze. Some grubs simply burrow deeper into the soil to escape the cold. The nymphs of dragonflies, mayflies and stoneflies overwinter in ponds and streams, often beneath ice. They feed actively and grow all winter to emerge as adults in early spring. Praying Mantids lay eggs that survive the winter. Moths in the Silkworm Family, Saturniidae, attach themselves to food plant branches as pupae in the winter. Come spring, they emerge as adults. Tree holes, leaf litter, and under logs and rocks are common shelters for overwintering adult insects. Wasps seek shelter in the eaves and attics of houses or barns. Honey bees stay in hives during the winter, forming clusters when temperatures fall. As I’ve learned more about the overwintering patterns of insects, I’ve chosen to leave dead stalks, vegetation and larger piles of leaves in corners and edges of my property rather than keep a neat, tidy lawn that my neighbors might prefer.

The Poet

Diana Woodcock has authored seven chapbooks and six poetry collections, most recently Heaven Underfoot (winner of the 2022 Codhill Press Pauline Uchmanowicz Poetry Award), Holy Sparks (2020 Paraclete Press Poetry Award finalist), and Facing Aridity (2020 Prism Prize for Climate Literature finalist). A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and Best of the Net nominee, she received the 2011 Vernice Quebodeaux Pathways Poetry Prize for Women for her debut collection, Swaying on the Elephant’s Shoulders. Currently teaching at VCUarts Qatar, she holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, where she researched poetry’s role in the search for an environmental ethic.

Next poem: Parides Burchellanus by Glyn Maxwell