Heliconid Butterflies At Berlin Zoo Poem by C Richard Miles

Feathered iridescences in miniature
Drift soundlessly upwards to the glass,
Flying free but caged within hard walls
Of life-sustaining, airtight insulation
From the chilling summer storm.
Refugees from ravaged rainforests
But hatched here in cold Berlin
Splash impressionist’s shades
With wisp-fine artist’s brushes
Swift as a child’s imagination
Across unvarying polished green
Of broad-leaved tropical undergrowth.
Psychedelic flashes flitter in and out
As vivid, angel-winged heliconids
Dance to a silent, timeless tune
Remembering their moist, ancestral glades