A Ladybug Villanelle   in iambic pentameter   Among the leaves the ladybugs abide.   Why do you wear the colors black and red?   The black is for the darkness drawing nigh.   You're following a flight path gone awry,   Toward the shadows of the garden shed.   Among the leaves the ladybugs abide.   You chose this destination from the sky,   it looked forlorn, abandoned to the dead.   The black is for the darkness drawing nigh.   You failed to see the movement, hear the cry.   A child is splayed in weeds, his arms outspread.   Among the leaves the ladybugs abide.   Will vivid color ease his sobs to sighs?   His pale, bruised hands collapse on you instead.   The black is for the darkness drawing nigh.   The red is for the blood behind the eye,   a lesson cruelty etched into his head.   Among the leaves the ladybugs abide.   The black is for the darkness drawing nigh.