by Ethel Mortenson Davis
The Mourning Cloak
came to the garden
and sat near my foot.
Large, chocolate wings
greeted the sunshine.
Remember when we talked
about the butterfly effect?
You were excited
about that theory.
You talked about butterfly power.
Do you remember?
When the Chilean miners
told about the butterfly in the mine
that saved them from the cave-in,
they talked about how amazed they were
that a butterfly
was down in the dark.
They stopped to watch it
fly around their head lamps
just as the mine collapsed ahead of them.
I didn’t have to tell you, though,
because I already see a curl on your lips.
