**THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW
ABOUT the BUTTERFLY
Next time you are in a sunlit meadow
among the gorgeous "flowers" taking wing
You'll recite a new and richer lyric
Nature's darker secret you may sing.
Poems and metaphors have oft described them
as transformations blossoming with charm
But if we really knew their secret story
our attitude might register alarm
A caterpillar's destiny awaits it
the winged and wondrous angel it becomes
Begins as soup and biscuits for another
"Discs Imaginal" digest its crumbs
Mysterious and ravenous predation
sips and rearranges every cell
Reassembling wings and vivid colors
from spare parts found in shadows deep in hell
Instead of an unfolding of creation
from a deity on golden throne
There exists a darker explanation
Legendary myths are overthrown
Behold the silly caterpillar feeding
famished and engorged until entombed
The Chrysalis becomes its double boiler
cooking up a serving in the womb
"Discs Imaginal" serve up the banquet
Caterpillar soup the bill of fare
Before it was a cuddly, sleepy, creature
But now the BUTTERFLY is throbbing there
How we choose to see this creepy process
Largely is a matter of debate
Some of us prefer a noble Magic
Others snub reality with hate.
Next time you are in a sunlit meadow
among the gorgeous flowers taking wing
You'll recite a new and richer lyric
Nature's darker secret you may sing.
_______________________
Terry Walstrom
