Butterfly Lullaby

My wild indigo dusky wing

my mottled, broad-wing skipper,

a sleepy, dreamy dusty wing,

flying through my night.

My northern, southern, cloudy wing,

my spring azure, my crescent pearl,

a silver-spotted, sweet question mark,

 sleeping in my sky.

A tiger swallowtail, harvester,

 moving through my hours,

an eyed brown in the redwing dark,

wrapped softly in my words.

“Butterfly Lullaby” is reprinted from Calendars (Tupelo Press, 2003).