Simple Deep Joys

My mother has recently come back home from hospital. As she slowly regains her strength I too regain my lightness of spirit, in simple (or are they?) joys.

A quiet cup of tea

outside on a wooden bench

as birds sing up the sun,

others sleeping,

warm-nested in bed.

A butterfly dancing,

black and orange wings

fluttering fantastically,

unafraid it hovers

and settles on a nearby

bright purple flower.

The tentative form of

my now-skinny mum,

fledgling steps in the kitchen,

she directs the making of lasagne,

my heart bursting with joy

as her hands grasp a dish,

hesitate,

then lift it surely

and place it on a table-

the chef awakening.

Advertisement

Fleeting Butterfly

Sunset gold
alights on a flower.

She flaps once
then opens
in soft triangle
symmetry.

I know how brief
this rest is –
does she?

Startled,
she folds
into the air
in paper-thin
endangered
flight.

Once she is gone
I will see her again
in sunset’s gold

but our children –
they will never
imagine
such fire
on a wing.

I wrote this inspired by the Monarch Butterfly, a species under threat due to climate change, pesticides and logging of wintering grounds.

Many species are heading for extinction today and I wanted to capture the unique beauty of what may be lost from our world.