O my theatrical Harlequins, my cochineal Asian Ladies,
all sweetness and seduction with white-painted faces –

I love your very beetleness! How you congregate
in the corners of window frames and call to each other

with your scent. Your sharp pointy legs, how the gossamer
of your wings splits your shell and your delicate feet

pick their way gracefully over our walls. We brought
you here to fulfil our whims. Now we moan that you flit

in and out when you need the comfort of our houses,
devour the native species when resources are scarce.

Some call you pests, interlopers poisoning the country,
chant

Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away home

but I love the way you shame us with your resilience,
how bravely you flee into the inhospitable unknown.