Hidden within the earth’s grit was an egg;
A perfect ovoid, powder grey with specks of brown
As it cracked, a newfound spring emerged
A tiny caterpillar sleepily opened her eyes
Pouring rain sang down to the primulas
the colours of the wind painted the cosmos.
This caterpillar was in awe
She wobbled,
She crawled
She crept on these primulas and started her work
She ate these leaves and moved on to the cosmos
This caterpillar grew quickly;
The more the caterpillar ate, the stronger she
became;
The wiser she became
The caterpillar burrowed and climbed into trees
Navigated through complex terrain;
She was untouchable to all predators
The caterpillar sighed and looked at the tumultuous sky
‘It’s
time to go back home and rest’
So, the caterpillar travelled south to her origin
and abruptly stopped when she saw her fellow
caterpillars.
She hugged these caterpillars tightly
She weaved into her silken chrysalis with
determination
She was trapped;
Trapped in the walls she built herself
The others wailed and sobbed
They were simply inconsolable.
The caterpillar waited patiently inside her cocoon
and smiled.
Once she had disintegrated
Enzymes were released in the chrysalis.
These enzymes dissolved all her tissues into a
thick soup;
except her imaginal discs.
These discs used the soup to fuel rapid cell
division
She formed wings
She formed legs
She formed antennae
Blood began to pump into her wings
It was time.
She emerged from the cocoon like a pulsating dream
floating on the breeze
She danced as her crumpled wings straightened;
Wings brightly coloured, crimson like a fiery
sunset;
Yellow like golden silk; blue like electric current
With white polka dots and coal edges
She floated on the primulas and cosmos
She drank their sweet nectar;
Her proboscis stretched deeply like a delicate
straw
Then, the butterfly flew to my grave.
She placed soft kisses on my tombstone
And wiped my tomb with her gaily wings
She rose higher in the sky.
She flew to heaven,
Curling into the sweetest of swirls;
a hypnotic rhythm in every flutter,
my soul was in that butterfly.
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