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.