Meta Morph

Once a caterpillar crawling along the earth

looking for nibbly leaves, climbing up smooth

green stems and navigating fallen

leaves and twigs in your path

such a striking caterpillar you were

black and yellow with vivid stripes

of green and white

and one day you were driven to

create your chrysalis

did you ever wonder about that?

why you were encasing your self

away from the world, the elements

day by day, you began to change

did you know what your chrysalis was?

how did you pick the best spot?

and then one day you emerged

your splendorous wings wet and folded

your long spindly legs tangled

your wings dried and you rose up

in flight as a Black Swallowtail

a butterfly, risen from the ground

to the heights of the sky

by glorious design

you were created as one creature

and transformed into a different creature

you lived it without fanfare or

accolades, a metamorphing from

earth to sky

now you flit from flower to flower

and collect pollen on your long legs

until you somehow know you're fully

laden with the life giving pollen

you don't even know how beautiful you

are or what a majestic transformation

you have undergone

surely nothing less than a miracle that

we are blessed to witness if we keep our

eyes open and notice the world around us

if we slow down and catch a glimpse of you

we know where you came from to get to

where you are now

and it gives us hope that we can be transformed

into a new creature that rises high above

the earth, a stunning reminder that

our caterpillar days are temporary

and our butterfly days are ahead

you were once a caterpillar crawling

along the earth.