Come to me as a Butterfly

Come to me as a Butterfly

You come to me as a butterfly

White-winged and delicate

Full of grace and purpose

You come close,

Drawing me in

With your dizzying dance

My gaze follows you

As you whirl through the garden

Appearing and disappearing

Amethyst tinged hydrangea,

Lavender dusted spirea,

Violet budded oregano

And though I vigilantly track your flight

I cannot hold you in my gaze

And you are gone again

I climb toward the heavens

To search for you

And see the world as you now see it

From a rocky peak

I take in the paint-splattered valley below

And soak up the last of the retreating sun

In the distance, a spark catches my eye

You appear again,

Your wings transformed by the colors of fall

Mosaic patterned top wings

Fiery orange and burnt red

Dusted beneath in summer’s purple

I hold my breath

As you come close

Gently alighting upon the rock beside me

Your stillness 

Holds the same sense of purpose

As your frantic flight

I cannot resist,

My smile blooms into a giddy laugh

We are together again

Though I long to hold you, I do not reach out

I know my touch upon your wings

Would steal from you your freeing flight

You lift off, circle, disappear

Leaving me earth-bound

And searching

August 2009