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Safe and Sound

chrysalis tears
   meconium oozes
soft wings cling

butterfly’s
  pupal fluid
red like blood

caterpillar and chrysalis
   combine to change
ugly duckling to swan

first flight
   like a falling forest tree
without sound

without witnesses
  beauty unexamined
unmounted

beautybutterflyfree verse

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Valsa George

June 22, 2024 at 8:46 PM

First flight is without sound and any ostentation. It is after passing through many stages that a butterfly emerges and the ugly duckling (do you mean cygnet?) has to wait for months to become a swan and fly. Till that time it will be riding on its mother's back. Kim, I wonder if my interpretation of the poem is right.

Kim Rodrigues

June 23, 2024 at 5:54 AM

The swan was thought to be an ugly duckling, in Hans Christian Andersen’s book. The “unmounted,” at the end is depicting the opposite of entomology, and the butterfly may not be noticed at all, as it is free. …and whatever else the reader might see. The verse before it also relates to an unnoticed flight. Hugs ~ Kim

Duke Beaufort

June 20, 2024 at 11:13 AM

Kim, thank you for celebrating this marvelous group of insects. They are all wondrous in their own way. These happen to be quite spectacular to watch.

Kim Rodrigues

June 20, 2024 at 7:07 PM

Thank you, my friend!