Metamorphosis: Monarch Butterfly Symphony

Rooftop Butterflies

Rooftop butterflies
Oh precious skies
Red, white and blue
Angels flew

Rooftop butterflies
Oh sad eyes
Monarchs in our skies
Ancient but so few
They disappear
Now human tears

Rooftop butterflies
Oh precious skies
Prophets knew
They disappear
Now God's tears

Save our souls
Save our souls
Chemicals, pesticides
Going against the rain
Bringing acid rain
And tumors on the brain

Mother Nature
Help us
Caterpillars save us
Seeking nectar
From soup bowls

Cleanse our minds
Kick our behinds
Get tough on man
They seem to erase
Monarchs from the human race

Butterfly Symphony

Stained glass wings
My heart sings
Bibles and preachers
And biology teachers
Butterfly Sunday

Resurrected like a prophet
This Viceroy
Is Heaven's toy
Butterfly Sunday

Finding a sweet solution
Like a drunk–
Not diabetic
Nor zoonotic
Peeking at Bible scriptures
Butterfly Sunday

Like a dove
On Noah's Ark
Sits on branches
Her soul just perks
Butterfly Sunday

Monarch Mini-Poems

Gold, black & green
Colorful butterflies
A caterpillar dreams

Rise above
Monarchs fly to the mountains
Heaven's gates and
Crystal fountains

Chasing butterflies
With net in hand
This must be the Promised Land

Eternal blue
Eternal youth
Flap your wings
Caterpillar soul song

Breath of fresh air
Like peppermint
A cat stopped to yawn
Monarch soul to pawn
I'm not ready to die yet

Sweet juice
The young butterfly
Did an erotic dance
Near some tomato plants

The Intellectual

Reading Robert Frost
The Monarch thinks
Like a writer–
A soul not lost

Reading Emily Dickinson
The Monarch thinks
And is a fighter
Mother Nature winks

Reading Walt Whitman
The Viceroy blinks
A natural impostor
As a hypocrite scoffer

Two wonderful butterflies
But one of them
Genetically lies
Let us just forget the games
Mother Nature's fortune and fame

Oh wonderful skies
We don't care about lies
And the bitter taste of butterflies
Let us just enjoy
Butterfly kisses
A real treat from Heaven
Amazing Grace and bliss

Butterfly Leaving Home

He kissed everyone goodbye
Packing his little suitcase
This bird has to fly
Generation of pain
Generation of gain
Through turbulent rain
This bird has to fly
Empty nest now...
Over rooftops and chimneys
Over church steeples
Above clouds
Amongst the American people
This bird has to fly
He kissed everyone goodbye
And packed his suitcase
This bird has to fly
And one day he will die
Tell mommy and daddy goodbye

External Butterfly Anatomy 101

Antenna
Thorax
Compound eye
Red, white and blue
Milkweed
Caterpillars

Proboscis
Head & legs
Abdomen
Forewing
God sings
Milkweed
Caterpillars

Wing veins
Hindwing
Forewing
God sings
Palpi
Milkweed
Caterpillars

Red, white and blue
Fill me with eternal skies
And Monarch butterflies

Monarch Baptism

Through algae lined portholes
Upon a ship of gopher wood
Aiming for eternity
Noah's animals and fleas
A butterfly was baptized

Noah declared, "Sins forgiven,"
Even the caterpillars were jealous
Clean hearts and souls
One-hundred fifty days of rain
It was the fall of man

The wickedness of man
And a grieved God
Blueprint for destruction
For an earth with an evil sod
A butterfly was baptized

Emerging from a crystal green cocoon
Like an emerald in the sun
Mature with angel wings
The Monarch butterfly sings

Above the earth and given
A spiritual birth
The butterfly sings, "Clouds of glory,"
Now this butterfly will never die
Riding with chariots in the sky
And all creatures praised God
(Psalm 150:6)

Grandma's Farm Sanctuary

An old tractor
Vroom, vroom
Bald tires and its
Almost noon

The smell of manure
Never bothers the veterinarian
But the students run in fear
Moans, barks and grunts

Cows with big rear ends
Crowd the old barn
Grandma wipes her hands
Oh that old checkerboard apron

Mahogany spots, black spots
Geographic looking cows
Like maps painted on their souls
A greasy crow bows to grandma
As if she is a prophet

Butterflies get a taste of honey
Apple cider is fresh for a while
Grandma enjoys canning
And watches the butterflies landing

This is a sanctuary away from the city
A place worn and
Nitty gritty
You wear overalls here
Grandma never displays
Her tears

Monarch Sunday

Something about Sunday
Calm, easygoing, the smell of pancakes
Bacon and eggs
Proud to be an American
The Bible will be open
Babies will cry

Monarchs fly
High up in the sky
Eternal blue of youth
Never ending sunsets
Amazing Grace

Caterpillars with angel wings
From worms to airplanes
Taking responsibility
Doing things economically
Biological and ecological
Monarch Sunday