A proud white butterfly
desired to be the most beautiful,
the most envied of his species.
He rubbed against the reddest flowers
and he pilfered a stripe of azure from the sky.
He bathed in golden vats of pollen.
He even gorged on sumptuous nectar
to become sweet and fat.
The day came when he determined
to make his grand debut.
Poised on a begonia leaf,
his point-of-departure, his runway,
he flapped, flopped, but never flew.
So encumbered by his accoutrements,
aerodynamics weighed him down,
as a streamlined salamander
leapt and lapped him up.
Sonny Rainshine
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/parable-of-the-proud-butterfly/
