TSM 128

~ qbit 
feckless
butterfly
 
flight that stuttered
orange
 
is the new
black
 
a dead monarch
on the sand its
 
wings pressed flat
by the unabridged tide
 
the dictionary of water
from anemone
 
to zebra fish
I said to you pointing
 
that's him
that's the bastard
 
the one who's tiny hands
fluttered
 
and the flutter
became the headwinds
 
the tornados
au poivre the chaos
 
the hurricanes
that tore apart our shore
 
and I have butterflies
in my
 
stomach in the twitch of
my eyes, the itch
 
in my arms
to fly the downlegs
 
the doglegs
to visit the graves
 
of the flight
from Egypt
 
or Mexico or
even Ohio 

to watch 
the rain

of silk
 


The Sunday Muse

22 thoughts on “TSM 128”

    1. Thanks, yes. “The Butterfly Effect.” The original quote from chaos theory is: “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” Poetic license taking it from there. LOL!

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  2. Out of the park with this one–just stunning work, every single line full of image and impact. I especially like “..the dictionary of water/from anemone/to zebra fish..” but the entire poem is seamless in its bleakness laced with the intoxicating rum of beauty and fear. Excellent visual/metaphorical translation of the Butterfly Theory quote as well–and I love “tornados au poivre” which is such a vivid image to anyone who’s watched one, as we often have to here in Okieland. Just an excellent, defining piece. I am all in awe.

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    1. I am so glad you liked it!! I like those lines too, sort of peek out from the rest of the poem, have to have some respite from all the doom, LOL!

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  5. I see what you did there with orange is the new black! Imagine being angry with a butterfly, but then you lay out the Butterfly Effect and all that those tiny wings can bring about. Your closing line is aces. I love this, and like Hedge, I like the alphabetized sea life.

    Btw, only you and Hedge seemed to get my poem. Sig Other is NOT uncomplaining, because Leo Girl is not really gifting him anything he wants. But she insists, as Leos will, all the while thinking very well of herself. I was married for 13 years to a Leo and I just reversed the POV.

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    1. I’m glad you got that we got what you thought you were saying. Wait, that’s sort of recursion! Oh no! poems causing fractal chaos! Anything could happen now.

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  7. Chaos on the wings of a butterfly. The butterflies in the stomach are always a sign of change. Traveling to see the “rain of silk” I feel the butterflies silky wings fluttering amidst the storms
    of life. The Song of the Last Butterfly (sigh)

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  9. Fantastic writing brilliantly conveying the butterfly effect. So many lines to love, but I especially love this one “the dictionary of water from anemone”

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  10. You kept us on our toes trying to guess where this could go next. I was not disappointed in where it went, but my preguessing was not good. I felt sure some mean fellow trounce that “dead monarch on the sand (astronaut on the picture[?]).
    ..

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