Beloved Butterflies

      

By Yuan Changming

Beloved Butterflies   You often imagine your soul Transforming into a butterfly That is, one of 20,000 species of The kind, or 725 north of Mexico   As a butterfly, your soul can perform The many deeds you can never hope to For example, perch on a pink petal Flap its wings against sunlight Return to its cocoon to change its past Or even travel back along the trail when It was still an ugly caterpillar before it flies Forward to the dawn of tomorrow   Although unable to fight with an bald eagle Relocate a whole forest or, more Modestly, bite off a thorny leaf, it can dance With an angel for a whole night   Yes, you enjoy being that butterfly, taking On a different shape with more colors   … Needs a Smile   So it invented flowers To bloom in every season, and   Rivers to irrigate the dry fields Beyond the barren banks   The Creating Creature   The monkey scratches Its hairy head Then its hairless butt   The way you scratch The paper (or the screen) With the itchy fingers of your mind   Hibernation   Deep under the snow All animals and plants Are lost in their white dreams Waiting   To melt on a long and                               Warm day, when stories become Ready to start Again     Crows Don’t Know They Have a God   But we do. It is pure white as snow   Instead of cawing, it keeps shooting A seven-colored arrow into every ear   Of the mind. It never flies, but like a Rooster, it perches upon the curtain of   Light as we saw yesterday, and The day before   On Loneliness                                                                                              The sun is as lonely As the moon is alone Because they are both unique   While stars are so many As to fill in the whole sky In total darkness Bio: Yuan Changming co-edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Yuan. Writing credits include 16 chapbooks, 12 Pushcart nominations for poetry and 3 for fiction besides appearances in Best of the Best Canadian Poetry (2008-17), BestNewPoemsOnline and 2129 other publications across 51 countries. A poetry judge for Canada's 44th National Magazine Awards, Yuan began writing and publishing fiction in 2022. His debut novel Detaching, 'silver romance' The Tuner and short story collection Flashbacks are all available at Amazon, his duology Edening due out in 2026.