Butterflies' Dance

My baby sister may have let it slip her mind

But I remember the butterflies’ dance, divine

Holding still, almost holding our breath

Something that, to a toddler, should have felt like death

But I was able to keep her calm

Waiting and watching them land in our palm

Feeling the sun, the shade, and the breeze

While butterflies flitted and glided with ease

The smell of the flowers and soft spring dew

Avoiding, for a moment, old troubles and new

A moment we shared, quiet and bright

A moment that, years later, still brings me delight

To watch discovery and the wonder it brings

It’s times like those that truly sing

Permeating time with one of life’s sweetest lessons

To slow and breathe and count my blessings

The blessing I had to hold her tight

To watch as her dreams took flight

To see the brightness of innocent youth

To cry as I uncover a truth

I was as she was once long ago

There was no way for me to know

The awful things I shouldn’t have had to bear

Were not my fault, I was just there

My deepest desire, her long innocence

That she not know the pain of distance

The deep despair that slips you away above the world

Where no speech is heard, no cry, no word

But I know life will do as it always does

All I can do is show her my love

No matter the troubles she will or won’t share

My prayer is she knows I will always care

And though I wish she’d remember this as I do

I understand that she was too young to

She will share others, in fact, a life full

And will reminisce as I in an evening’s lull