W is for wings. A lot of times we are light and sweet on our blogs – not touching on topics that mean a lot to us because it makes us vulnerable. Today, I wanted to share this Monarch poem. It was written in love for a family member who was in prison. I found it while scouring the net for Monarch poetry after not being able to find my daughter’s Monarch poem that she wrote last year during our Journey North project. This poem touched my heart because I, too, have a family member that is in prison.

Life sometimes doesn’t go as planned. People make mistakes. Freedom is precious.

Gather these images to your heart and picture yourself in that prison yard:

Monarch

for Bobby

Peering from the shelter
of a dark, hidden cave
morning rays blaze magenta,
melting to orange with increasing light;
wind whips clouds into butterflies
searching sparse spring flowers
awakened by the desert rain;
luminous cloaks of orange
striped with bars of black—
sun beams broken with shadows of the past.

Feeling heat on pressing breeze,
beat liquid air as arms,
pumping legs, and pounding feet
echo rhythmically in the heart
on track of rock and dirt,
countless hours circling the yard,
luxurious escape from wire cage,
breath of fresh scents stretch the lungs;
one small taste of secret joy
freely jogging in oblivion.

Royal cape of monarch wings
edged with jewels of many colors,
lifts a mind in meditation,
dissolves chain link and razor wire;
flutters to desert fields beyond
where the celebration of finches’ song
and a pair of red-tailed hawks
circle on thermal waves with thoughts;
erase the mocking uniform of orange,
while affirming life’s eternal rhythm.

- March 10, 2009
© 2009 Richard V. Sidy

Credits: SNS Press

The next time you see a Monarch flit by in the clear blue October sky, pray for a person in chains and bondage. Pray for them to be free.

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If you are just finding out about our A B See Photo Meme… you can visit the original post to read the rules and the reasoning behind the assignment. Hope you join us as we click our way through the ABCs!

Love in Him,