The Caterpillar

In the beginning was darkness, like in any other shell Then a crack and out came the typical caterpillar Into a jungle with so many like him and unlike him Moths, caterpillars, dragon flies and other killers The journey had begun, to grow, eat and grow He never knew he was the one, but he knew he wasn’t slow Who was to mind the sloppy caterpillar? When all he could do was grow, eat and grow Who was to look beyond his youth regalia? When all his peers had theirs ripe for show Little did he know he’d shed it all away But until then he had nowhere to go All he could do was roam his tree home All he could do was grow, eat and grow The world looked at him as the butterflies’ brother Telling him to fly despite having no wings He tried to strut his dull green colours He sought solace in his deadly sting For long he longed to soar in the sky To be the envy of all and sundry To don rainbow colours like elder butterflies After such thoughts he was always hungry Lord knows the world was moving too slow And all he could do was grow eat and grow So ate he did and big he grew Then into his cocoon he obliviously stumbled His shell was cracking and little could he do Except accept who he was and be humble As he emerged, his world hadn’t changed But what he saw was the same thing different As did the world when it set its eyes on him The sluggy, the slow worm was now flying colours In his presence, his brothers were moths A background in a Da Vinci masterpiece Marvel and wonder in their thoughts They wondered if this was who their brother is High he soared, higher than ever For the world to see him for he was now visible It thought he’d been who he was since forever It knelt at his feet and put him on a pedestal Higher he soared and colder he grew And harder it proved for him to breathe That’s when he knew exactly where to go Where he could grow, eat and grow He had grown in this world as a caterpillar And this world had made him callous Now he had flown in this world as a butterfly And it named him flying colours So the butterfly it chose to butter And the worm it chose to shun Is it ignorant or is it too blind to see That the worm and wonder are one?