My car
had been
drizzled
in honey
coloured
leaves
during the
night.

My son
and I
made a
spectacle
of how
the gold
fluttered
off into
the wind,
like a
hundred
monarch
butterflies
through
grey
streets.

I tilt
the rear
view mirror,
waiting for
lights to
change.

His soft,
buttery face
reflected
back at
me.

I wonder
how it's
possible
that such
a small
person
has the
power
to halt
the sand
through an
hourglass,
to awaken
sunflowers
by the
moon,
to derive
nectar
from a
stone.

What other
name
is there
for a
person
of such
power
than that
of a bird
which
arises
from its
own
ashes.

What life does
A butterfly see
Pretty black
Fleeting eyes

Butterfly vision
Unquenched love
For flower's colored vista
Though I expect

They often think
They are solely
Living a short life
Only eating and pooping

Defined as
Caterpillar forever
Or, does their mind
Metamorph also

Now, it's little brain
Like the angel's
Holds thought to fly
Released to drift free

Astonished to rise
Chasing flower's nectar
Until too dark to see
Or bloom unrevealed

Anyway, as it is
Seen by you and me
A soaring glory
Of handiwork divine

Absolutely
A life sublimed

©  2017 Jim Davis

.

Have you helped a butterfly ever
Fragile, delicate, creatures are they
Fluttering bravely, through tempest
Hoping life, til morrow's winds

Entrance to life as tiny things
Growth to most ugly well defined
(During those caterpillar days)
Morphed to beautiful in wonders

Sometimes, passing by, our lives
With barely, hardly, any notice
Although, if we stop, to closely look
Discover, they are the coolest

Searching woods, field, prairie
For life's, delicate, bright, flowers
Giving sustenance, as sweet nectar
For life's wing, and heart beats

Mostly, their life is some shorter
Than the average span of time
Although, some, like some of us
Live only no more, of a moment

Knocked out of the world's air
Often, by hard blows unseen
Without care, we remark
They're just lying there, still

Whilst some soar, as eagles
Or buzz, like bees and wasps
Some of us, are blissfully happy
Simply butterflies, floating through

Pause,,, your hectic busy days
Take a moment, be a flower today
Give out a bit of life's sweet nectar
To butterflies, aloft in the winds

©  2017 Jim Davis

The moon over Rio
is upside down for someone who's only
ever given it thought from New England,
so while in Rio
I hang myself upside down
like a perching fruit bat
before it goes on its nightly
raid of Senhora de Andrade's hummingbird feeder.

I hang myself upside down
to see the moon as I'm used to it
and the blood flows to my head
accompanied by Gal Costa
and I right myself
return to  my senses
and hope that the local kilo restaurant
is still serving, otherwise
it's hummingbird nectar tonight.

my honeybee,
lick the nectar from my lips
turn it into honey
your taste so sweet
fill me with your luscious love