Chrysalis

Digesting me
within this shell
dissolving self
to bid farewell
to all I was
so I shall be
not that which crawls
but what flies free.




Chrysalis © Copyright 2021, Robert J. Tiess.

View this poem at AllPoetry.com

26 words (prompt limit).  Butterflies Rising brevity challenge prompt - link: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2747153-26-words-or-less---butterflies-rising-noguest

Concerning the metamorphosis of a butterfly:
the caterpillar quite literally digests (some say "recycles") itself, dissolving its body into "imaginal cells" which establish the basis for the future body of the butterfly eventually to arise as this truly transformative event unfolds.

This poem also honors my mother's love of butterflies.  Jeannette J. Tiess passed away on April 8, 2020.

Some links for further exploration:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/caterpillar-butterfly-metamorphosis-explainer/

https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/caterpillar3.htm
Submitted: April 12, 2020









AllPoetry.com             ArtOfInterpretation.com