Mail order caterpillar specks arrive
like black pepper on a yellow disc
to place in the netted butterfly chamber
we watch as time transforms specks of black pepper
to spring green caterpillars about a quarter inch long
there’s four of them
clinging to the netting
feasting on a sugar saturated paper towel
then one morning we see four cocoons
curiosity abounds
eager impatient hands wanting to
unravel the silken cotton pods
to “help” the butterflies transformation
to speed nature along
curious eyes and daily guesses
at what type of butterfly’s will emerge
we hope it’s the Monarchs
one morning we see wings clinging to the netting
they have hatched!
“can we keep them?
we could feed them sugar cubes since they’re bigger”
no sweetie, I’m afraid not
”maybe they will stay in the yard
and we can keep them as pets
and feed them sugar cubes!”
“well, let’s see how long they stay around
maybe they will stay in the garden”
zips open the butterfly netting
out darts black and yellow butterflies
not the Monarchs nonetheless
the air current swoops them
away to never give a chance
to dwell in the gardens
all those weeks
all that time to nurture
and bring along life
secretly wanting to keep them forever
now released with joy to
share with the World
This is beautifully detailed and descriptive. I felt that I joined you as you raised the butterfly from larvae to winged creature. Beautiful progression and tone of poem. Wonderful!
Thank you Ingrid. My now 18 year old daughter did the butterfly life cycle thing when she was about 4. And when we released them, off they went. And fast! It was an amazing and beautiful experience.
Thank you Ingrid. My now 18 year old daughter did the butterfly life cycle thing when she was about 4. And when we released them, off they went. And fast! It was an amazing and beautiful experience.
This sent me right back to my time as a child trying to raise butterflies.
In relation to it, my dad once caught a lunar moth and brought it home to show me. I asked to keep it and… Regretted it immensely to say the least
Such beauty we want to keep. My daughter and I raised butterflies years ago. I think it was harder on me than her when we released them and they immediately flew away!