butterfly

sun casts its
eye on winged shadows,
dancing in
to the day–
tossed by light waves that play with
dappled melodies

I’ve been wanting to do another butterfly painting, and the dVerse prompt from Laura, flights of fancy, provided the perfect excuse.

wings

Inspired by Nina’s butterfly rock, above, a collaboration with the Oracle.

spirit wanderer
life must shine beneath
this summer moon

breathe bright breezes
through flowering light

walk on air

let the nightsong
follow you home

Last night the rain kept me from seeing the moon, but I did capture it the night before.

 

Pulling Colors from the Sky

Belonging to nothing
spare and straight
in stillness
constellated

Spare and straight
like dusk falling
constellated
listening for the stars

Like dusk falling
on a butterfly
listening for the stars
across whispered air

On a butterfly
wandering
across whispered air
beyond desire

Wandering
in stillness
beyond desire
belonging to nothing

A pantoum for Sue Vincent’s photo prompt, above.

 

Swallowtail

wings born sailing
on voices of air,
breathing sky and flowers–
heart wild and foolish
with desire

Of course I needed to consult the Oracle today about wings…

bloom for me
with light–
I need music
this morning
to dance wings
like flowers,
spirits soaring
on song

Illustrations are from the portfolio of old art I found.  These are from 1982.  I remember doing a lot more butterflies; perhaps they will turn up somewhere else.

Monarchs Are Migrating

…but their numbers are down 90% since 1992.  You can help by planting milkweed, which is their main food source.  Read more here.

This was another painted sketch done with my leftover brown paint.  I also did a monarch post with a collage; you can see it here.

Monarch Butterfly

Most people know that monarchs migrate from the United States and Canada to central Mexico to hibernate in winter.  This can mean a trip of nearly 3,000 miles!

Between 2012 and 2013 the amount of butterflies who wintered in the Mexican forest decreased by 40%.  The forest habitat itself is disappearing as a result of illegal logging.  But the extreme weather conditions of the last few years, due to climate change, have also caused lower hatching rates.  Another factor is the loss of milkweed plants, the primary food source for monarchs, killed by agricultural herbicides.

Fifty years ago I spent many happy and non-productive days in the fields and woods across the railroad tracks down the street from my house in Ohio.  Some of my activities:  catching tadpoles (and occasionally falling into the creek), picking blackberries, chasing dragonflies, lying in the weeds looking up at the sky, stalking butterflies and moths with net and relaxing jar.  I never did manage to catch a swallowtail with tails intact, but I did get a good monarch specimen.  Butterflies of all kinds were plentiful in my childhood world; the memories seem to me now like a rose-colored fairy tale.

Thanks to Nina for her comments on my bird collage, which led me back to butterflies.

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/monarch-butterfly