Jul 2013
My eyes flicker past,
as the frog that leaps from pad to pad,
and linger, dissatisfied,
where the most shadows lie,
as the salamander that makes a sacrifice
of metamorphosis for a simpler life,
and there I hunch in darkness bound
cocooned
hoping that the light will be softer,
the wind a cooler kiss,
when I emerge, adapted,
different.
But metamorphosis is for butterflies.
as the frog that leaps from pad to pad,
and linger, dissatisfied,
where the most shadows lie,
as the salamander that makes a sacrifice
of metamorphosis for a simpler life,
and there I hunch in darkness bound
cocooned
hoping that the light will be softer,
the wind a cooler kiss,
when I emerge, adapted,
different.
But metamorphosis is for butterflies.
It's relevant to the simile (apologies if this was already obvious) that the Northwestern salamander often shows neoteny if it is in a region where losing its gills is not favourable, eg where there is not enough shade such as at high altitudes, thus not metamorphosing fully into its adult form.
