Butterfly at the Intersection
I almost stopped the midday traffic
at 51st and Washington, almost
thought it was my work
to cross you to safety, almost
said, yes, I must do this,
for you remind me of someone;
the way you ride the wind
eddies, dipping and leaping,
the way you check your face
in a thousand windows, the way
you flip your orange shoulders
at the world, believe it cares.
I would tell you of a field
of flowers, I would whisper
the way,
but you fly off
and my words hover just above
all this flash and shine.
—Jeanie Tomasko, Middleton, WI
