Metamorphosis of a monarch butterfly.
METAMORPHOSIS
Once I was a
caterpillar, dwelling upon the earth,
crawling along day by
day, adept at feigning mirth.
I only knew the
earthy life; I thought that that was it;
I took what terra
firma gave, the pleasures and the grit.
There was no beauty
in me. No one ever looked here twice,
Few cared if I were evil;
no one knew if I were nice.
I was only concerned
with myself, what the earth could give,
yet, inside I was
sensing a far better way to live.
Instinct led me to
spin a thread and weave a neat cocoon;
I became a living
mummy, wrapped tight within my tomb.
What was happening to
me? I tried to kick and shout,
“Help me! Open up this thing! I want to get right out!”
No one heard and I
was powerless, so I went to sleep,
not knowing what was
ahead of me, feeling something deep.
I don’t know how much
time went by within my tiny tomb,
but sensed that I was
being changed, as one inside a womb.
Finally, instinct
worked in me. There was a sudden urge
to break out of my
chrysalis and from the dark emerge.
Somehow, I then
received the strength to burst my being free;
Alas, the golden
Light broke through and there was a new me!
I took some time to
understand, some time to wonder why,
then I just shook
myself a bit and I began to fly!
And `lo, I was so
beautiful, and `lo, I saw the sun...
Oh, after living on
the earth, soaring was great fun!
A wretched worm was I
no more; I knew that fact was true,
I was reborn and I
became a creation wholly new!
A butterfly! A butterfly!
I received my wings,
glorious splendors of
the Heavens, all the higher things.
All old things have
passed away; they’ll never come again;
I’ve set my mind on
things above, on these I will attend.
Now, even when I
swoop to earth and walk upon the ground,
I’ll never be a worm
again...I’m Butterfly...glory bound!
Praise God for
metamorphosis, it’s by His loving grace
that I’m a new
creation now, and I shall see His Face.
Maude Carolan
