page thirteen

This poem was written July 17, 1992, outside our family tent, at Interlochen State Park, (Duck Lake Campground) in northern Michigan.


Little brown butterfly,
you've landed on page thirteen
of the book I'm reading
to warm your wings
in the morning sunlight.

First your right side,
and then your left.
Slanting and tilting
to keep your wings
perpendicular
to the warming rays.

I slowly slant and tilt
the page you've clung to,
to test your sensitivity.
You adjust your stance.
The experiment works.

You start to walk
over the words:
"Lake Michigan".
You have now entered
this short story* I'm reading;
become a new character.

Stepping over a few sentences
down to the next paragraph,
you pause on the words:
"butterflies migrate".

Then you take flight.

©  1992, 2013 - Richard Havenga

*Short Story: "The Way A Woman Thinks" from collection: Grass Fires - Dan Gerber © 1989