Sky-Stomach of God

Today  the butterflies are flying scared

the butterflies fly scared today

in the belly of God.

Butterflies fly scared

in the sky-stomach of God,

blue powder, gold powder wings

torn like the ozone layer.

Among a ring of monarchs

a petition circulates,

billions of butterflies needed

to fly in formation

above Antarctica snow.

The crimson rose of Ceylon,

the windmill of Nepal,

spearwinged cattle heart of Venezuela,

Burma's jungle glory,

blue adonis of Latvia,

purple spotted swallowtail

the island butterfly of New Guinea,

Mexico's figure eight and the Grecian shoemaker,

the red lace wing Filipino

and the sky blue morpho of the Amazon,

Nicaragua's blue doctor,

the clipperhead of Vietnam,

Hong Kong dragontail,

the button jewel of Dublin

and the Berlin emperor.

Butterflies in a row,

a living thread

to sew

the atmospheric wound.