Fragments of Flight, by a Blue Butterfly (Revised) (poem) by Helga Ross on AuthorsDen

Fragments of Flight, by a Blue Butterfly (Revised)
by Helga Ross → (All Poetry by Helga Ross)

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Dedicated to the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) Clouds of these "beautiful blue snowflakes" once flew in oak savannas and pine barrens from Minnesota to New Hampshire and downtown Brooklyn. When just any place won�t do -- A blue butterfly returns to the office...

Fragments of Flight By A Blue Butterfly On a Blue Day. Respite from the soothing sunshine's soft kisses, The feather-light billowing caresses of summer's balmy breeze. Sojourn, change of scene. From vast brightness and limitless fresh spaces to a dreary desk in a colorless corner cubicle. Prison of modern life, The dull 'greige', monotone beige semi-private cell known as my Work Station welcomes me. Careless of the dreams of this reluctant Lepidoptera, Taut invisible tethers have relentlessly reeled me back to this barren landscape. The Ivy lay dying while I�ve been away The thriving planter I lovingly left tended, Apparently suffered my substitution, in sympathy. Shriveled brown tendrils spill tiredly o'er hand-painted habitat while still others cling tenuously to life, Consoling reminder my vacation from day-to-day drudgery ends just in time! Looks like I must toil a little longer to sustain both our lives. Befitting the occasion, blue Blue Butterfly is wearing black - I don't want to do this anymore. Outside, office windows reflect more of the same. Overgrown concrete jungle. The darkened sky and pouring rain comfort me, mirror my mood. I'll be grateful, then, knowing I'm not missing much today. Sobering caffeine for me. Aromatic coffee grounds with cool water and overhead desk-lamp For my languishing indoor greenery. I startup my desktop Dell. Login: USERID, password: "IMALIVE" - Yes, I am. That's me! My screen saver. Me looking-at-me from the magnificent vista of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Warming up. Check my E-Mail. I see nothing much has changed. Same old, same old... Welcome diversions. I am in this uncongenial place of necessity, but I am in spirit free, Here only physically. Surrounding framework panels Sport favored photos and mementos For my inspiration, appreciation, motivation: Close-ups of precious pets and persons, Of tea roses from the garden, twining rose and clematis climbers, Burgeoning perennials, lounging on my dream-home deck in sultry summer siesta - Pictures from unforgettable forays to out-of-time places, Landmarks on my continuing Continental odyssey: Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Chickamauga Civil War sites - alive with History. The simple beauty and stark simplicity of battle-scarred Salem Church, Virginia, and New Echota, Georgia, Lost Nation of the Eastern Cherokee. Fragments of flight Feelings, thoughts, experiences, Of which I wrote and will more yet write, When I'm free Tonight. copyright � Helga Ross 2003

Reviewed by Ian Thorpe

Reviewed on December 5, 2004

How this made me think of my own career - and many misdemeanours when personaility overruled sense of duty.
I think you have built into the fabric of this poem the experience of "coming down," those hours of cold turkey we all feel on returning after a vacation

Reviewed by Erin Kelly-Moen

Reviewed on September 25, 2003

An ethereal quaility to this piece begins to unreel the surreal, I felt I was there, in that cubicle of beige, and I didn't like how my spirit felt, ike it was dying, slowly yet surely... I must now shake my mind of blued butterflies trapped in concrete cobwebs, it could be me, but it is not. God, Helga, how do you stand it?! :(

Reviewed by Ashraf Goreja (Reader)

A great poem, Helga. It is an excellent write and heartfelt expression.

Greetings.

Goreja.com