Thread.

Have you ever, while on the way to work, seen worms* hanging off trees in a mid-dangle, half way to the ground? It hangs, conspicuously motionless, like it wanted to be invisible enough in hopes of having someone pass by and, knowingly or unknowingly become its ride.

Each worm starts out from their respective branches and, whether by will or by circumstance, leap into the great Far Away and Wide Expanse it must reach (also hopefully away from too much competition) in order to start its glorious Next Phase. It hopes to catch a ride, get to that new elsewhere that is so full of potential, so the worm uses that one line that each of them has - and leap.

The higher it dangles itself, the faster it will get somewhere: common logic denotes that a tall animal often gets around faster. But tall animals may not be in migration and we are not able to find that magnificent ride, the worm therefore dangles itself lower, to heighten its chances. Perhaps the zebras or the equivalent are on the way somewhere?

...then when even the herds are not forthcoming we consider the possibility of foxes and boars. Surely then we will have a ride? The thread has been let, anything that passes by will get tangled in the thread, which will break, and take the worm with it.

I would imagine the worm would be desperate at the point - it had to get to a new elsewhere for sure! Away from some competition at least, where it has a better chance?

...but then, the ground is so very near, and how Nature calls.

The worm answers, dropping into the grass, burrows into the ground, pupates. It emerges a moth, the female scamper up the trees emitting that sensuous mothy perfume that attracts the flying male. They mate, frenetic, lay eggs then die, having fulfilled their natural impulses at their appointed times.

That worm - it's a lot like us, isn't it? Our hopes, the time we have, the angling that we do - and then nature calls. And we are but moths. Such hopes and dreams when we first leapt off that branch - I pray you, reader, are at peace. With who you are, where you are headed and what you will be.

And I, I angle on.


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*the worm is commonly the inch worm, of the Geometridae family. Of Latin, Geometra, originally derived from Greek, meaning earth (geo), measurer (meter). It refers to the looping-lurching motion of the worm, with which it seems to measure the entire length it walks. It's life cycle is as such: it hatches on the tree, often in the rough clefts of the bark and eats. Then it drops to the ground on a strand of silk, burrows and pupates. Once mature, the worm emerges as a moth, the females scamper up trees and the males locate the females via the pheromones the females secrete, and they mate. The female lays eggs in safe crevices in the bark of possibly the same tree it hatched on, and then it dies, leaving the next generation to fulfill its cycle.