Monarch Butterfly

This is the time of year

when monarch butterflies appear.

It’s been about a month,

I see them every day

in my garden, neighborhood,

streets, farms.

It’s delightful to see,

the pretty butterflies,

black, white, orange.

The hungry, striped, caterpillars,

eat milkweed

and turn to chrysalis,

and finally adult,

the last stage of metamorphosis.

I see them sip from

California buckthorn, butterfly bush,

alyssum, even zinnia.

It’s so nice,

to see them thrive,

in a hostile world.

My little son chases them

to have some fun.

Some are residents,

here in South California,

some go to overwinter

in Mexican fir forests.

They are pollinators,

key links,

in ecological balance,

and we must not be,

a nuisance

to shrink their population.

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