Animal poems - Butterfly

NOTE: This page is a daughter page of: Animal poems

Butterfly

     ... delicate, beautiful, graceful

Why simply fly, when you can dance through the air?
Most animals with wings either hover in place or take the straightest path to their destination.
A straight line, or an ark through the sky.
Not the butterfly.

The butterfly meanders through still air like a playfully swirling ballerina.
All stand still in her presence as she freezes time and moves through space.
Only this little tiny little creature understands the real truth of movement.
Life is not about destinations, but the journey.

To chase a butterfly is to playfully chase a beautiful ephemeral dream,
To really touch a butterfly you must stay still, and hope it lands on you,
To share a magical moment in time, and a memory which lasts forever.
Such a delicate creature can not simply be captured, it must come to you.

Gently the butterfly lands on the stem of a leaf.
Her wings come together, and slowly close shut.
In movement, the butterfly leaves us all spellbound,
Yet in stillness, my fascination grows even more.

I fight the anticipation and wait for her to open her wings,
I wait to see the vivid and magnificent colors of her wings once more,
The entire world waits for the butterfly to flash its color and radiance out into the world with each beat of its wings,
Nobody knows where she will scatter to next, not even the butterfly.

Everyone knows of the butterfly's incredible transformation.
From an egg hatches a caterpillar, and after a lifetime grounded she spins a cocoon.
From this unassuming dull cocoon she emerges into the world as a vibrantly colored sky dancer.
The process is slow, yet the reward for waiting to witness her first flight is one which steals your breath away.

Yet we are all wrong about the butterfly’s metamorphosis.
Even after her magnificent rebirth into the air, she continues to evolve.
Every meter of her journey, every branch she lands on, every time she pirouettes in the sky, and every heart she captivates, the butterfly’s journey defines its life.
Keep dancing in the sky my beautiful little indelible creature.

Keep inspiring the rest of us to pause to admire the great beauty that exists in the world.
I will pause now to appreciate the world is made so much more special by your presence.

Why simply fly, when you can dance through the air?
Life is not about destinations, but the journey.

            -- by Andrew Noske

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About this Poem... Animal: Butterfly Description/motivation: I dedicate this poem to my incredible, unique friend Kailani. I hadn't seen Kailani for a long time, but suddenly she came back to Monday night open floor dancing, and we shared an amazing dance. I decided to ask her for her spirit animal, yet before I finished the question she put over her dance shirt another shirt with a beautiful silver butterfly on it. Delicate, beautiful, calming, open-hearted and graceful. If you've met or danced with Kailani, I think you'll agree this animal seems like a perfect fit. Even if you were to see her across a room - the beautiful, colorful and unique cloths she wears make her butterfly-like. I tried to capture that in her poem. Hopefully there are others out there that relate to the butterfly as well, and get something from this poem to inspire them. :) This is one in a serious of poems I've written about various animals. The motivation, is that I love the idea of spirit animals, and I decided, one day, to ask many of my friend what animal they think best represents their personality. In some cases the poems are written with the person in mind... and sometimes it's purely about the animal. Read more about my process here. If you love this poem or want another written please e-mail me at . :-)