Flowers flame from a lush and gracious tree
Food for eye and insect, taste and see;
Abundance exploding in nourishing beauty.
Above the blossoms a dozen butterflies hover,
Fluttering, vibrant, weightless spectrum of color,
Restless, relentless, sip, lift, sup another.
Velvet back wings bordered in aqua lace,
A flash of yellow, a transparent opal trace,
Each oblivious to the other's pace and place.
Let me live in such glorious community
The burning bush an all-consuming opportunity
To feast and flit in heedless equity.
Concerned not by relative palette hues
That flicker past, glimpsed peripheral views,
But only by central beauty and truth, renewed.
Then fly, free.
-Jennifer Myhre
3 comments:
Beautiful!
Thanks for this
Jennifer-
I've been following your story for a few years now. Most of my work is in my neighborhood- a place damaged by gangs and poverty over several decades. The wounds run deep. The past few years, "urban revitalization" has brought new life, diversity and money into our streets...and it's companions are racial discord, distrust, disillusionment, etc.
Last year I received a grant to plant a butterfly garden in our community park. Although a band of us have been cleaning out the park for years (car parts, drug paraphernalia, trash, you name it) we decided it was time to inject beauty back in.
The garden brought together people across the usual boundaries of race, age and income. We created shared experiences- stories from the park in it's glory days from neighbors who remember it and stories from children planting their first daffodil bulb.
In doing so, we sought to bring dignity to and among our neighbors and our park through over a year's worth of hard work.
The dedication was April 4th of this year, so when I read this poem earlier that week...as all the details of the dedication and fears of rain and doubt of worth were swirling around in my head...
I just couldn't believe it. The Lord used your words to give me the final push and reminder of the purpose of our work. You captured the essence and hopes of everything we seek for this community.
The poem is beautiful and I would love to print it on a plaque for our garden. Let me know what you think.
Blessings,
Jessica
North Carolina
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