Unbrilliant Poems | Examples

Black Butterflies

first, 
it was a single entity
 an unbrilliant black charcoal sloe female by identity
 faded shadowy shades of stygian dark
slipping in and flitting flower to flower making mark

second,
two came dancing like onyx layers
 colors changed sable ebony players
 deep dark obsidian pitch male
pipeline swallowtails spotty blue indigo sails

the final dance
black butterflies
 in the last of summer cries
 separate endings
the last goodbyes.


In apartheid-torn South Africa, poet Ingrid Jonker struggled tragically in search of love and a sense of home. Portrayed in the 2011 movie Black Butterflies