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"Monarch"
by Jeph Johnson
For only the third time I can recall,
(For I live north of the line
Of where nothing seems at fault
While having a good time),
I saw a monarch today
Just blowin' in the wind.
A fluttering castaway
Not knowing where she'd been.
She understood where she's goin'
With just instinct and a gust
(Where the wind was blowin'
Had all of her trust)
She flew with dazzling elegance
And brightened up the sky
The highlight of my day's events
Still making my heart sigh.
Like paper in an updraft
Nearly littering the breeze
I smiled first and then laughed
As she climbed above the trees.
And bittersweet remembrance
Caused a hard lump in my throat
For the butterfly's disappearance
Ruined a tinge of hope.
See, I longed for her returning
I had not enough, I learned
For a lifetime spent on yearning,
As far as I'm concerned,
Seems too long and unavailing
When I don't know when life ends
And I'm sick of always failing
And having to pretend
By going to museums
Where butterflies are displayed
Wings spread wide so I can see 'em
And painted colors that won't fade.
But seen behind glass counters
Just ain't like in the field
Where I had my first encounter
And yearning briefly repealed.
Oh, years ago when I was younger
I had one of those nets
To swoop over and under
And attempt to catch-
And once I really caught one
And it was a monarch too!
But one day she saw the sun
And up into the wind she flew.
So to this day I wonder
Each rare time a monarch's flight
Flutters past me still asunder
If ever again I might
Recapture what I had lost
Or at very least her beauty,
For it matters not the cost-
But right now that's not my duty,
My job right now's to dream.
Draw pictures in my mind
Of what I hope can seem
To be for me to find
Another monarch in odd places-
Still fluttering aloft
I must look past the pretty faces
And frolic with the moths.
