Blackflies

We are simply no match
in patient cunning
silent, deadly determination
the technique of those
flesh-consuming monsters
adept as they are
at striking and extracting
tissue and blood
leaving victims in pain...
assassins! Searing, burning
anguish in place of intact
skin, left poisoned, mutilated
by vicious forest predators
infesting mountains, woodlands
and crystalline, rock-strewn
streams that unwary ramblers
traipse in their trusting
innocence infused with
enthusiasm of all that
is identified with nature 
while she in turn simply 
returns the compliment in
her very own inimitable way.