Milkweed Lyrics

Like the Monarch butterfly, I

am in relationship

with you. Your silken fibers

ripen through the summers

of my youth.

Within cocoon husks

Stiff mouse-gray pods hide

palest yellow threads, damp

with newness, unready

for the air, for the earth.

Great-grandma recommended

your milk to cure

the warts on my big toe. Torn

leaves leaked sticky juice.

Curiosity suggested I force open

tear-shaped

treasure cases and touch

the moist tendrils concealed

like butterfly wings, fresh

from the gauze of transformation.

A butterfly touched

will die for want of flight,

but left alone you split

those pockets and spread

them wide for the wind or my breath.

Seed-weighted tufts

blown into the autumn sky

to soar, float freely, dip, drift

and fall

to foreign dirt

receptive or barren.