Like A Butterfly Poem by Liilia Talts Morrison

She was a tenant in our building
frail energetic dressed so bright
clothing like veils and rainbow baubles
and patterns like a butterfly

She cried to me that she was useless
her life was but 'what might have been'
for she was now way past those decades
when people still do what they want

What could I say to this slim person
who looked much like a daffodil
or flower from a special garden
was this not good enough to be

She walked or rather tripped like sea terns
and sparkled with most cunning shawls
among the gray slow moving oldsters
she was a peacock among hens

Was this not cause and firm assurance
that living hope and beauty own
to brighten a dirt spattered sidewalk
with fancy sandals and light gait

The meadows fill with summer flowers
and none would wish to be a tree
a bush, a bird or other creature
they know their purpose and their way

I uttered words of bland assurance
that like a blossom she brings joy
to those sad folks who shuffle slowly
and wear old shabby careless clothes

She was a tenant in our building
frail energetic brightly dressed
with sashes veils and rainbow baubles
in patterns like a butterfly.