January 3, 2011

New Year Butterfly

I don't know what to make of this. Sunday after I had taken my Xmas tree down & was cleaning up in the kitchen, I saw this butterfly on the rim of my tea cup. Where does a butterfly come from in January? Why in my house?

I had a brief moment of panic as I recalled that the ancient Greeks depicted the soul/spirit/breath (psyche) leaving the body at death as a butterfly, & wondered whose soul had wandered into my house (& on New Year's Eve I had seen the recent movie "The American" in which the final image is of a pale butterfly flying off into the forest as the character played by George Clooney dies).

The butterfly stayed in my kitchen. I put sugar on the counter for it, but later found it dead in the middle of the floor.

As we used to say in college, "This must be symbolic of something."

3 comments:

Edward said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Edward said...

threnodically
maniacally
guided confided
as one might
with the wind
wearing words
like skins
carved
with the long clarity
that rust eats
one molecule
at a time
at each cycle's end
each pinch
each bend
to a moment paused
or lingered sweetly in
no amount of sugar
or goodwill sometimes
can bind what
flutters by
in a moment
when clutter
goes in a wave
goodbye


...thanks again dan, i didn't know your blog could be so entertaining...

Howard Kogan said...

my guess is that the cocoon came in with your christmas tree and it hatched in the warmth of your house...or something creepy is going on...Howard