Mayflies

There’s a discrepancy about
how long humans have walked

the earth. Is it 200,000 or 300,000
years? Depends on whom you ask.

If Earth’s lifespan were a 24-hour day, 
Our time here would be about

five seconds. Give or take.
The mayfly lives for only a day,

sometimes less, but they spend
the whole time mating and

reproducing. They lay as many as
3,000 eggs – no time wasted –

but only in healthy rivers and streams.
It’s said that mayflies have been around

for 350 million years, or about 6,656 seconds
to our five. It’s as if they knew something.