I had a lot of caterpillars in my garden this year. They had a fantastic time eating the vegetables that I was trying to grow! Then, having left their mark, they disappeared. And instead I found, in the dark corners under the decking and hanging from the eaves of the shed, cocoons. A few weeks later my garden was filled with butterflies.
In my experience, there are a lot of similarities to a parent watching children grow and change.
In the sunshine
I watched you
Flex and stretch
Take tentative steps
To explore the boundaries of your green world
And discover what lies beyond
Growing and exploring
Expanding your horizons
Unconfined and free.
Then you stopped.
I looked
And you were gone
Out of sight
Shrunk in on yourself
Your world contracted
As you spun a web around yourself
Silently
Shutting all out.
In the darkness
I watched you
Waited for you
To emerge from the confines of your cocoon
To flex and stretch
Open wide your wings
And reveal the unique beauty of you
As you were destined to be
Flying high.
