Ronald Peat (4/24/42 / California)

A Beautiful Sentiment.

I met a man from India who said: he
heard the butterfly weep. To hear
the sobs of a bright butterfly through
its long coiled mouth is quite unique.

But his message was clear nonetheless,
the silent heart can be very courageous
beyond all imagination, looking out
a little window into the bigger world.

Now and then there are red ants at
my window that could eat a butterfly
in no time. They'd cut it into pieces
and carry it off in a hurry for lunch.

It's best not to keep red ants inside
your house at all. And be sure to close
the door after they’ve been swept out.
Red ants can be a dangerous army

at any specified time, today or tomorrow.
I stepped into a nest of them as a child
and found it was quite painful. My father
poured gasoline into their home's hole,

then struck a match to set flames to it.
He covered its opening with a board,
so that the fire would burn into the roots
of their home deep within the earth.

© RH Peat. 1/23/2012 11: 22am
Form: 6 quatrains/ 24 lines
Metaphor: Spirit and life meet head on.
Manifest reality.