Last Monarch Summer

It had been years since the seasons changed Then the Monarch butterflies Shook from a blue sky in July Like a box of colored confetti Re-appeared a miracle atop the sticky meadows And the day before was so hot That on my morning walk I found tree frogs glued to the pavement In mid-hop Paralyzed with eyes looking up Clay knickknacks belonging to a shelf In an Elk Rapids gift shop People around here are buried in their graves Sitting up To stare out forever upon Torch Lake Tombstones angled against the hills Last ever to see The blue of this Earth The lake of sunsets The mirror that shows us all Who we turned out to be.