the hanging lantern opened

early afternoon, porch still cool. stepped outside to find a small miracle clinging under the eaves. a monarch had slipped free from its glassy coffin. wings damp, folded tight, slowly breathing into shape. the chrysalis above it, once green and gold, now nothing more than a hollow paper lantern. finished.

the butterfly trembled against it, orange sails heavy with gravity. veins filling, colors darkening, each beat of the heart writing a little more of the story in black and gold.

thoughts drifted toward patience. all that unseen work in silence, days of dissolution and rearrangement, until one quiet morning something new opens its eyes. sunlight stitched into wings. the world noisy all around, but here was proof of stillness doing its work.

fragile. defiant. not yet ready for air. it hangs and waits, wings drying, gathering strength. i wait too. remembering that emergence takes its own time.

milkweed moves in the breeze. far south, a forest waits. for now, just this bright spark, clinging to its empty lantern, preparing.

today, i witnessed transformation. tomorrow, it will be gone, riding the wind.

🦋

current mood: quiet delight
current music: wind through leaves, somewhere a dove calling

#roanokeva
#monarch #butterfly #chrysalis