I’ve
been enjoying the butterflies all summer, including the Eastern tiger
swallowtail that perched on the flowers on my balcony while I took the photo at
the head of this post. As summer draws closer to the end—especially for
schoolchildren and their teachers—I’ll be concentrating my blog on the signs of
summer that will be ending as well.
This
week’s post is a poem about butterflies that I originally wrote in 2012,
although I added the verse about the swallowtails this year.
Butterflies
Common Buckeye
A buck’s eyes
prance across the wings
That hover low
above the ground
From gravel path
to grassy verge
And roadside park.
Red Admiral
A ring of fire
encircles him
When wings are
spread apart,
Or underlines the
white and black
When raised in
victory.
Clouded Sulfur
Alfalfa fields a
common haunt
For your
night-feeding frenzy,
A pretty sight to
untrained eyes
But no friend to
farmers.
Monarch
Milkweed stalks
with silken heads
Become a Monarch’s
throne.
Then winter comes
and orange and black
Aims south and
flies away.
Swallowtails
Black outlined in
yellow
Or yellow outlined
in black,
Two delicate tails
Set them apart.
I’ll
end this post the way I started, with the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
Join me next week for flowers I see along my walking trails.
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