The universe we live in is magical. As Tere Sievers pointed out, nature arranges itself with slight of hand. A caterpillar slowly becomes a monarch butterfly. The caterpillar transforms from something we usually pay little attention to. In fact, we often see it as something that strips the last green leaf, but somehow nature keeps in balance in the caterpillar`s metamorphosis.
The striped suit fat worm takes a two-week nap and emerges bedecked in the ballroom gown of the monarch butterfly ready to begin its dance. When we take time and are mindful of the relationships that exist in nature, even those we do not sense immediately, there is something sacred in that process. Humans join in those relationships even when we do not see them. There is a co-dependency shared, yet not fully sensed. We live in community and communicate with all nature’s phenomena.
Black antennas twitch
as the caterpillar
strips the last green leaf
from the naked milkweed.
Striped flesh shed,
the green skin below
becomes a jade pendant
rimmed with gold,
hung by a black thread.
Nature, that green magician,
arranges a slight of hand.
The fat worm in a striped suit
slides into its chrysalis
naps for a fortnight
wakes,
draped in orange,
ready to dance.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 