Last Moments

My stomach dropped
            when the butterfly I supposed dead
                         disappeared &
                               reappeared
                                    right where I left it

yesterday______
     it wandered soft over bare knuckles
        flapping orange and black wings
       & stilled on my little finger
                            just long enough
                                       for a picture

Did I capture your last moments,
        before you were swallowed back
                                    into the ether?

                        I did discover your tiny body, later—
                        [Truly forboding, that feeling]
                  in the same exact position
                   
                          Your beauty had dimmed
                                          
                                  & I knew/ then
                                         you, whoever
                                                 whatever
           lurked behind that
 thin black tongue
searching for nectar
               were gone.

–LM