A sunhat on her head and flip-flops on her feet

A hunter with a bottle for caterpillars

Treks to the field at the end of the street

A field with an apple tree and full of milkweed

Right for a seven years old scientist and caterpillars, too

Jen has a well-thought plan and a question

Is the field filled with wings or caterpillars black and gold?

 

The field sits warm in the morning sun

Are there caterpillars or butterflies?

There are buzy bees, ants in hills, and grasshoppers by the dozen

But the bushes are empty of caterpillars and of butterflies, too.

“It is too soon, you just can’t be gone,”

Jen checks her book and sees a picture

“Ah Ha!” she cries and looks so close at the milkweed plants she sees.

 

“This isn’t a flower bud hanging here, but a chrysalis, for sure!

I’ll take some home to hang them in the garden

I’ll watch the butterflies come out

I’ll give them a bouquet of milkweed flowers

It’s perfect!” she says with a shout.