Beautiful Butterfly

As I have previously mentioned, right now I am in what I'm calling my "butterfly phase" and it is beautiful. Over the summer, the concept came to me in the form of real butterflies; I dreamed about them, I saw them everywhere, and even a couple books I read by chance had a lot to do with butterflies. I took it as an omen that that was the beginning of my "butterfly phase" and started taking notice of the ways in which I was changing. The most obvious is of course that I was leaving for college, which entailed so many changes I couldn't think of them all. I'd been in my safe chrysalis at home, and now I was to emerge into a world I saw with new eyes, with new wings to carry  me into my new life.

A few days ago, my mom sent me an email, telling me she'd been going through some papers and found a copy of a poem she wrote for me when I turned 17. It's called Mariposa, which means "butterfly" in Spanish. It said a lot about my life when I was 17 and it says even more about the woman I am now and expresses beautifully all the things I feel about my "butterfly phase."

Mariposa

Soft sweep of white wings,

Gentle sparkle through the blue,

I see now that it is you.

There was a woman in the chrysalis . . .

. . . I see her now.

Content in her wrapping, she sifted.

Nourishment, in gentle swaths,

Seeped in through seams in mind and skin.

In the center, pliant strength coursed like a joyous sap.

Eyes of a doe, filled with wisdom ~

Grace of a willow, cut loose and swirling ~

Sacred whiteness of a mother forming.

I see her now.

Wings filled and pulsing . . .

A world of love awaiting.