brushfoot break
July 5, 2018
i take my tea
and snacks
to the front steps
so i can watch
the butterflies bloom
orange and black
they rush around the lower air
tumbling over one another
desperate to mate
before they die
brushfoots
american ladies
bursts of color everywhere
above the fray
a few tortoiseshells flutter
taking it easier
high in the oaks
an occasional california sister
cruises by
serene in her 9-month lifespan
i drink in the butterfly light
with my tea
with my nectarines
as hungry for the beauty as the fruit
every day impatient to get through my chores
so i can watch butterfly tv
the flying insects seem endless
for a few weeks
i almost take them for granted
overnight
they vanish
no more teeming American ladies
just the few fluttering tortoiseshells
the occasional swallowtail
the high-flying sisters
then the baby stellars jays fledge and
the quail bring their newly hatched chicks
to scratch in the yard
while the sharp-shinned hawk chicks
beg for breakfast