Butterfly Wisdom

I  was lucky enough to find this "lovely" 
floating on the top of one of the goats' water buckets. 

She was barely alive...
resigned to drowning....
waiting to draw her eventual last breath.

She had quit struggling to escape from her watery trap...
with wings outstretched upon the water's surface.

I scooped her up and set her on a fence post.
While she lay there drying, she told me this tale....

"I am tattered and ragged, faded and worn," she said,
"the result of a long, full life." 

"Once I was beautiful and young."...

"I fluttered and floated and danced on air...
tasting the sweet nectar of life."

" I revelled in sunrises and watched sunsets in awe."
"I loved and laughed and lived each day to the fullest."

"But,

 with the passing of time I have lost most of my beauty"...
"and flying is no longer as easy."

"Don't be sad for me," she said.  
"I have lived a good life...longer than most.
I have been lucky enough to grow old, albeit torn and tattered,
and, despite that,
 I live to fly another day."

"Tomorrow's sunrise will fill me with joy. 
And a calm peace
will settle within me at sunset."

"Such is life... we are young but for a moment."
"The tattered appearance of aging is nothing more
than the sign of a well-lived life."
"And each day that we greet the sunrise is yet 
another day to fly!"

(Just a bit of butterfly wisdom
I was lucky enough to catch
floating on the surface 
of a bucket of water.)

Comments

Anke said…
Said beautifully...
Deana said…
I needed to be reminded of that this morning. Thanks! Beautifully written!
Elizabeth said…
This post made me cry. My Grandma was just diagnosised with lung cancer. I can imagine this being her story too. So beautifully written!
Unknown said…
Wow! Such a beautiful story...copy by my computer.
Anonymous said…
very sad..made me cry..
beautifully said
Ms. Bake-it said…
Hello Bev,

How sweet of you to save her. What a beautiful tale.

~ Tracy
Jean Tuthill said…
I loved your poem to the butterfly, so touching and beautiful.
Verde Farm said…
Bev, I work with the elderly and have for 17 years. Your post was wonderful. I cried but not because I was sad but because I was moved!
Thanks for that--Amy
I will remember this each morning as I look in the mirror
Kent Island Red said…
Something we should all remember. And thank you for saving her.
Unknown said…
That is lovely as is the butterfly - and it's exactly how I feel this morning. Thanks!
Hi, this is my first visit to your blog :) and what a grand treat to hear about your butterfly rescue...