You're a Pretty But Fat Caterpillar
Wonderland Poetry Prompt Challenge Day 8
I see you crawl along the Eucalyptus branch,
You're nothing more than a pretty slug,
But you attract more than a casual glance.
As you shimmy-sham like some sexy, smug,
Over dressed girl looking for the next advance.
With your green and blue satin-like dress,
Electric red and purple spikes,
You're dressed up to impress,
And there really is so little to dislike.
But something else one might address,
Perhaps you had no choice,
You had to wear what nature chose for your dress.
Maybe you didn’t have a voice,
But you're still just a pretty, but fat caterpillar.
[Author's note: The Emperor Gum caterpillar is unique to the east coast of Australia. It feeds almost exclusively on Eucalyptus leaves, which probably explains its distribution. As kids, they were a favorite to keep in a shoe box until they formed cocoons.
Little did I know that when I was doing my Master's thesis, my Supervisor passed away suddenly. These creatures would rear their heads again. The University tried to persuade me to switch to studying these caterpillars as an alternative project. Luckily, it didn't turn out, but in the time I looked at them,, they were just pretty, fat caterpillars that had one thing on their mind - eating!]
Till next time,
Calvin
For Elli Hoov's Day 8 Challenge:
About the Creator
Calvin London
I write fiction, non-fiction and poetry about all things weird and wonderful, past and present. Life is full of different things to spark your imagination. All you have to do is embrace it - join me on my journey.
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Comments (6)
They are so beautiful. Funny that we both chose to write about actual caterpillars from our younger days.
Cleverly written, Calvin I love butterflies
That caterpillar? Wowsers. I wouldn't want that to fall on my head. Beautiful though.
Captivating!!!
Excellent poem and I will drop one into this challenge for this day
In defence of the caterpillars, they need to eat all the time whilst in that stage of their metamorphosis because once in the cocoon they won’t eat until emerging as a butterfly, as you know. ☺️ I suppose those caterpillars kept in a show box were constantly fed. But they missed being on a tree enjoying their short time as caterpillars. That was probably one of those cruel school science projects. I risked my grade once to turn against a cruel science teacher. I despise her even today and even shes most likely well dead. Horrible, cruel woman she was. Anyway, very nice poem about the pretty caterpillar. 🐛