this poem written for Bite Size Contest no119 Poetry Contest, Line Gauthier, sponsor July 28, 2025
METAMORPHOSIS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
caterpillar, clad in emerald armor,
pauses at the fence, a splintered barrier.
it inches forward, a tiny architect of hope,
navigating the spaces between
the known and the unknown,
as if the journey itself is a metamorphosis.
CATERPILLAR'S* JOURNEY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a caterpillar,
clad in emerald armor,
pauses at the fence—
a splintered barrier,
a threshold of dreams.
It inches forward,
a tiny architect of hope,
navigating the spaces
between the known and the unknown,
as if the journey itself is a metamorphosis.
For a moment it hangs,
suspended in the air,
its tiny heart racing,
reflecting on the fence
that separates the past from the future.
I watch, pondering upon its journey,
the courage it takes
to inch forward,
to trust in the unseen,
to embrace the risk of change.
*Note: Poem originally written for Haiku Shack’s (Creative Ramblings Weekly prompt) July 28, 2025. This is my original poem
This clinging dark
not death, not bloom
stilled in air.
Soft walls resist what dares to come
The skin forgets its former hue,
Will light find purchase there?
A hush before the body breaks,
not wing, not wound, but something near...
The splitting shell reveals a vast, cold, bright despair.
Waking, dreaming, deep sleep and transcendence,
are the four domains which we navigate,
for which placing on God our dependence,
the pure of heart having no need to wait,
we instantly ascend to heaven’s gate.
Each state interpenetrates the other
but if fire of desire does not smother,
then the brave soul sails on, each breath reborn,
carried in the arms of Divine Mother,
transformed as living light that ushers dawn.
Good-bye…
Simply a word?
What essence is encased
Within this single utterance?
The alchemy of optimism?
The enigma of uncertainty?
Good-bye…
A blend of hope and the unseen?
Fracturing moments of farewell?
Aromatic vows dissipating
In the fluxes of fate?
The chiaroscuro of existence?
Good-bye…
A poet's silent elegy
Where love, loss, and longing
Converge and dissolve?
A kaleidoscope of emotions, promises
Distilled into a single breath?
Good-bye…
shadows draw across the canvas
with light oily strokes and dry wet soul
the white pythons and black mambas
conspire as their tongues slither and roll
down the canvas.
like honey, it marinates the mellow white
bruising it with time… yet as the honey lathers
and the white bathes, the paint stops with all its might
leaving behind the canvas
with monotone delight and black and white
then it cries as it bleeds like Danvers
watching its Hyde as he flees at the sight
as though his Hyde has a right
for leaving the canvas in black and white
the shadows of black and white
dissipate at the sorrow, at the pain
at the rain that washes the black and white
away.
Leaving behind the canvas
and time.
I inhale deeply, take the first step with desire in my soul to grow
to be the seed replanted in the soil to receive Vitamin D from Father Sun
I wanna be free, but I know I cannot fear living
just because I breathe out my nostrils and out my mouth.
I still hunger and desire for more for myself when I do not feel alive
if I run far enough to the hills
break the chains that held a tight grip on me will I still be free?
That is something I am still learning to understand.
Maybe it starts in this dimly lit room,
everything seems crystal clear alone.
Take in that serenity and trust it,
any time you are unsure? Seek.. ‘Voila!’
Make that moment start to scream,
open up a can of gasoline and go.
Remember you are a true banger,
people will speak soft and eavesdrop.
How, who, my god when? New is a rush.
Over the top and still so far to go,
sight’s set on a daydream that dawdles.
I must transform to let go of the quasi…
stay the same can’t be done but I digress…
I met hunger in the cradle,
wrapped in lullabies laced with quiet.
She kissed my lips with the taste of lack,
whispered my name in echoes.
I found her again by the river,
where children cast wishes like stones.
She held my hands, scarred and trembling,
taught me to drink from empty palms.
Through hollow halls and borrowed beds,
she walked beside me, humming loss.
Her voice, a blade against my ribs,
her touch, a wound I called my own.
And yet—
beneath the wreckage of her love,
I gathered embers from the ash.
Sharp-toothed longing carved me hollow,
but in the void, I built a home.
Mulberry trees, the symbols
of abundance and beauty,
bear sweet and very juicy
white, pink, or purple berries!
The white mulberry leaves are
the food sources of silkworms.
These trees are hailed,
since time immemorial
as the trees of life,
and herbs of immortality!
Butterflies, the symbols
of metamorphosis, grow ~
moving from caterpillars
to beautiful winged creatures,
passing through difficult times!
Their delicate beauty,
and graceful flight is seen
as tokens of elegance, and joy!
They represent freedom,
endurance, and love!
Now, that the world is getting purer and cleaner
everyday
who clear incoherently harbour dirts and spillage around.
Is it not the hand meant for cleaning and washing
and working out this and some of the other things?.
And the mouth for eating and drinking and talking
and laughing and many ,many, many other wishes
of sort kind?.
And foot and leg for us to reach out the dustbin for
instance?.
The dirt can't be a waste products perse nor the hand
a part of such dilemma nor the skull a kick hell out
of a thing cup? nor what dramatic human right nor
political taboo?.
I have a problem and that is true is quite different
from I have problem and that is true?.
Why then these people pollute nature
when already it's suffers contamination and stagnancy
and spillaging and wasting like quacks and qualms.
When will I realize that I'm not normal
People don't think or feel the way I do
It's ok. I will shed my past, like all snakes
Growth requires they shed their skin
Energy from the,' Year of the Snake' 2025
With this energy I will let the past go
Expectations need to be left behind
The skin holding me back in Life I made
Holding on to negativity true or not
Anger, Loss of a Child, Heartbreak, Guilt
Regret, Shame, Failures, even Success
Abuse, Addiction, Traumas all my life
All of that formed a thick skin
A protective shield from the World
Now it holds me back in growth
Remembering and finding Forgiveness
For everything even, the little things
Makes it possible to Shed old skin
Emerging to a life without limits
Becoming who I was born to be
A beacon of light for all the World
I fell through a hole amidst of a serious political moment
And choked on my anger
I kept falling and falling,
The world now looks like a burning hell
And I'm a living fuel,
Blazing and falling all the way to down there
Where my metamorphosis will be completed.
I kissed my lips
And drank the juice of silence,
I kissed your lips
And drank the juice of metamorphosis;
Why two tasted like same!
In a stage of metamorphosis,
I abide.
within cocooned life,
feeling stifled.
With patience,
I embrace transformation
Gathering strength
for a mighty triumph.
Yes,
the cocoon fiber is tougher,
than any in the world out.
One fine day,
I'll emerge
bold and strong,
immune and resilient,
a journey prolonged.
Yet,
with a heart gentler.
A metamorphosis complete,
a soul reborn.
ka~rum
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