Death Of An Angel(For Scarlett) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

I tell her
her butterfly

resting on the tip
of her finger

is an angel
disguised so she

can visit
the human world

passing herself off
amongst the flowers

keeping an eye

on us
humans.

I wake to her crying
in a night gone cold.

“I captured
an angel...! ”

she cries

“...trapped her
inside a bottle! ”

“She fluttered about a bit
and died! ”

“Will God
Kill me

for killing
his angel? ”

“No...no...don’t even think so! ”

“It was time for her
to go back to Heaven

& when you do
you got to

leave your body behind.”

She sniffles and finally
falls asleep in a sob.

I take her angel
put it on the compost heap

pray to God
to look after

all his little creatures

all creatures

great

&

small.