Butterfly Quatrains

Butterfly, gentle, graceful, soft,
Stretch your newfound wings.
Light as heartbeats, downy feathers,
Like fading hope to you I cling.

Not big enough yet to ascend
Into the infinite overpowering sky.
Remain a moment in my palms,
Afraid to live, afraid to die.

Cerulean, aqua, paper breath
You exist on lines between
Colors, distance, light and sound,
And what no eyes have ever seen.

Butterfly, you never were
More than an imaginative seed.
I created, hid, then vanquished you.
Butterfly, I saw you bleed.