Butterfly

I once held an injured
Monarch in my hands.

I wanted to feel
the softness of its wings.

Touched, a fine
orange and black

powder coated
my fingertips;

and where I had fingered
the wing

the orange and black
were smudged,

and the tip, the very
tip of the wing

was transparent
and pale as rain.

“Butterfly” is from Talking Underwater (Wind Publications, 2007).