Merril is hosting Poetics in the dVerse Poets Pub today ~ Butterflies are on her mind ~ and on ours as well. Words in color are butterfly names.
the sky has forgotten how to be blue
it hangs above Oregon like a grief
too heavy to name
its lungs full of ash
its heart beating in a frantic rhythm
forests collapsing into themselves
a cathedral of green
becoming a language of cinders
birdsong folded into silence
we search for something alive
LOOK ! butterflies
the clouded yellow finding nectar
in flowers that insist on returning
the orange sulphur lifting from fresh
clover like a small declaration
the mourning cloak no longer mourning
but bearing witness
we cannot unburn the forests
but we can plant, rebuild porches
trails, homes and trust
we can plant one sapling beside another
one kindness next to another
until the land remembers itself
and perhaps the butterflies
[ who have always known
how impossible transformations begin ]
will find us there
Butterflies in rebuilding , luv the metaphor of hope
ReplyDelete.uch love
Poignant--we can't unburn the forests, but the final lines say it. Let's hope we bear witness and rebuild, doing it better this time.
ReplyDeleteeric here. wow! saplings and kindness, and yes the butterflies know!
ReplyDeleteA poignant poem, Helen, adorned with butterfly names. The opening lines depict a sad image, with the sky hanging ‘above Oregon like a grief too heavy to name / its lungs full of ash’ and the ‘cathedral of green’ becoming ‘a language of cinders’ – and then butterflies bring hope!
ReplyDeleteA lovely metaphor for rebirth and new life.
ReplyDeleteLovely. It brought back memories of the Almeda fire in 2020. The sky does hang over like grief too often these days. Hoping my valley is skipped the worst of it this summer. No help that FEMA said "no" to help with current fires.
ReplyDeleteI love the reminder of the possible transformation...
ReplyDeleteUgh I am also in Oregon and though we arent getting it as bad as Washington, I hear ya...wonderful poem depicting the resilience of butterflies and transformation, well done Helen! 💛
ReplyDeleteA deeply moving and resilient piece of poetry Helen, I love how you move from the suffocating grief of environmental loss into grounded, tangible hope❤️
ReplyDeleteI like where you took this prompt. A compelling poem. Well done.
ReplyDeleteButterflies how perfect with Ona’s Birthday tomorrow. You will see butterflies everywhere tomorrow! Love this poem! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteI really feel this poem, Helen, as the wildfires are so distressing - apocalyptic. I like the lines about planting saplings and kindness until the land remembers itself. If only more people could remember the land and its need of our care. I cant bear the thought of the wild creatures running through raging infernos.
ReplyDelete