Stop killing butterflies, I said,
It's wrong to have these creatures dead.
Then his reply- which had me freeze-
Was well, then you stop killing bees.
-jwm
Of the Poem (Fourth Grade History):
What an unruly creature of destruction I was as a child. I remember- as clear as if it were yesterday- a time when I was a little boy in the fourth grade playing outside during recess. I tore a switch off of a tree and used it to smack the heads off of dandelions. This bored me, so I turned my weapon against some flying insects (dragonflies and bees, mostly).
A friend suddenly showed up and joined me in the onslaught. I noticed very quickly that he was targeting butterflies, and rebuked him for it. Without missing a beat he said: "Well, you're killing bees." My heart sank because at that very moment I realized I was actually harming something. Remorseful still, I haven't targeted a bee since.
Anyhow, hence the above quatrain.
It's wrong to have these creatures dead.
Then his reply- which had me freeze-
Was well, then you stop killing bees.
-jwm
Of the Poem (Fourth Grade History):
What an unruly creature of destruction I was as a child. I remember- as clear as if it were yesterday- a time when I was a little boy in the fourth grade playing outside during recess. I tore a switch off of a tree and used it to smack the heads off of dandelions. This bored me, so I turned my weapon against some flying insects (dragonflies and bees, mostly).
A friend suddenly showed up and joined me in the onslaught. I noticed very quickly that he was targeting butterflies, and rebuked him for it. Without missing a beat he said: "Well, you're killing bees." My heart sank because at that very moment I realized I was actually harming something. Remorseful still, I haven't targeted a bee since.
Anyhow, hence the above quatrain.
2 comments:
I love this one! Very pure and honest.
Yes, all forms of life ought to be respected but I can also see the logic of seeking to preserve or preferring butterflies over bees. Bees are like the mundane worker slaves in all of us and all they do is take from what is beautiful, whereas delicate butterflies live fleeting lives in order to add beauty to the world.
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