"Lucinda"
Shawnee Mill

(For Marsha)


BUTTERFLY

I saw you once but you have changed

Into a butterfly
It has been a long time
Gathering up the fragments of each day
Worth protecting
But words haven’t formed
Only yearnings and sighs
Breath utterances
From deep within
I am here and you are there
And always will be

I saw you once but you have changed
And I’m glad you did
To have witnessed your miracle
Like ten thousand monarchs
Resting on a shrimp boat
In the Gulf of Mexico
A stop along the way
On their long journey home
Before they die



Perkins, Oklahoma