a butterfly hangs
upside down,
but it seems upside down
is as meaningless an
an abstraction for it
as the two million km/h
that a human sweeps,
spins, expands, etc.
through space
is for the person who
feels only the couch
against his backside.
what must it be to not know
upside down -- to feel free
to fall, knowing the air
will catch one?
highway parts landscape;
butterflies jink and loiter
as cars speed through.
![Great Mormon Butterfly [Papilio Memnon]](https://berniegourley.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/img_0372.jpg)
Great Mormon
flaps its wings spastically,
yet hovers in place.
brown moth blends against bare earth,
'til footfall tremor sends it lurching.
butterfly lands
on flower, pumps wings twice,
and sputters off.
Stay near me—do not take thy flight!
A little longer stay in sight!
Much converse do I find in Thee,
Historian of my Infancy!
Float near me; do not yet depart!
Dead times revive in thee:
Thou bring'st, gay Creature as thou art!
A solemn image to my heart,
My Father's Family!
Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days,
The time, when in our childish plays
My sister Emmeline and I
Together chased the Butterfly!
A very hunter did I rush
Upon the prey:—with leaps and springs
I follow'd on from brake to bush;
But She, God love her! feared to brush
The dust from off its wings.
butterflies orbit
in helter-skelter arcs,
but never bump.
butterfly on the jungle floor,
warmed by a shaft of light.
moth falls off wall,
pulls up erratically, &
struggles for altitude.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 