My mother used to have the strangest habit, when referring to anything that had happened before my birth, of telling me, "That was back when you were still a butterfly." I have a feeling I may be the only child in the world who grew up thinking I had once been one of those beautiful creatures. :O)

Thus, the following poem ...

"Where did I come from, Mommy?"
Mommy gazed into innocent eyes.
"Why, Darling," she said, smiling sweetly,
"You were once a butterfly!

"Then the Lord, way up in Heaven,
saw how happy you’d make me be.
So He formed you from a butterfly
and sent you down to me.

"When a baby is born, all the angels
in Heaven begin to sing.
And God smiles down with pleasure
on every living thing.

"A flower blooms out in the garden,
a new star is hung in the sky.
God has one more soul to watch for,
and Earth has one less butterfly."

Innocent eyes were still staring,
trying hard to perceive all these things.
Mom was quite unprepared for her question:
"Mommy, why did the Lord clip my wings?"