From a wriggling tube of life

Exploding in striped color,

You morph

Into a small, compact kingdom.

Jade green accented by gold

Is only the beginning

Of your majesty.

 

I wait. I watch.

Anticipating a change

Days pass as I watch. Slowly

The vibrant colors

Of your next life begin to peak through

The ever thinning walls of your

Humble home.

 

It is time.

You start to climb from your confines.

A wriggle here, a step there.

You are out.

You hold onto the thin skeleton

That gave you life

And stretch your wings from eat to west,

Fanning, drying, becoming acquainted with

The new you.

 

I am mesmerized by your beauty

Reds and oranges pop off

The green backdrop.

Highways of black travel

To the outermost tips

Of your wings.

Ending with a splash of white.

 

Your proboscis reaches out,

Stretching.

It is new to you.

You recoil it with precision and unfurl it again.

I am reminded of a young child

Becoming acquainted with his body, his world.

 

I watch as you flit off,

Rising and falling with the breeze,

Carefree: a rainbow of life.

You will never grace my life the same again.

But I have witnessed your rebirth.

A silent witness of a small miracle wrapped in

Shades of green, gold, orange and black, splashed with white.