By Harper Smith
butterfly wish
I gave my wish to a butterfly today
it was small and just for me
I watched it lift on fragile wings
to the world, I set it free.
In turn I carry a wish of my own
from insect soul to mine
To live long and to prosper, to fly and to be
to live well, as long as she’s alive.
The things I believe are tiny and precious,
they are droplets of rain in the storm,
They are no God, they have no message
they are paperthin wings as they soar.
They are poppies and sunsets and wildcats,
they are laughter and hairclips and friends.
It’s the stillness I feel when my feet touch the grass
it’s my hands when I pick up a pen.
The world we rest in, it lives and it breathes,
and sometimes we breathe in its time.
I gave my wish to a butterfly today,
and when I turned, I saw a hawk in the sky.
The Lighthouse 