I Saw A Monarch Butterfly

I saw a monarch butterfly today
Floating on the thermals
That whisked about above my head
Hurrying forward

The wings were stiff and still and sure
Trusting the changeable wind
To carry it forward, to hurry it on
As it floated

A butterfly is an insect, a monarch
Of the tiny things
The powder on its wings is so
Ephemeral

The legs are spindles upon spindles
The thinnest of glass
I could break them with a breath, a touch
Shatter their everything

And yet, and yet, and then
The butterfly is sure
Letting the wind whisk it forward
Confidently

I lumber forth, protected from
The changeable wind
My boots, leather, plastic, polyester
Swaddle my feet

Nothing can touch me, for I am
Creation, Nature, God
To the smallest of smalls, the monarch butterfly
Flying forth

And yet, and then, and yet,
I use caution
I consider my options, painstaking, questioning
Myself

How is it that the monarch butterfly
Flies stiff, still, sure
On the changeable, ephemeral wind
And I hesitate?

The monarch butterfly is vulnerable
The wind could change
The clouds could rain and storm and thunder
If they wished

The wings of the butterfly never
Never hesitate
They stay on course forever
Completely sure

I walk through the slight breeze
With such purpose
I am that most important of things
I am human

I cry to the mindless wind
"Mind me!"
"Listen to my ideas, complex and varied!"
"Splendid!"

At every fork in the road
I stop
I think and weigh options as the wind
Continues forward

The butterfly never stops its flight
Through space
It does not question with its considerable brain
It glides forth

I saw a monarch butterfly today
Flying on the wind
I endeavor to fly, stiff, still, sure, but
I hesitate