It hung from a leafless flowering stem.

I clipped it loose still dangling from the reed.

Arching in a Mason jar against the rim,

The cocoon hangs from a butterfly weed.


Clearly a Monarch through the aqua clear.

Developing wings folded in orange and black.

Day after day as it grew to me dear.

A week and three days it began to unpack.


Unfolding wings as it walked from palm to palm.

Calmly it climbs back onto the glossy jar.

Through my reflection I can see its charm.

The ride we take in the car is not far.


In this butterfly the reflection is me.

Over forested Lakes, I tossed it free.

Wesley Dale Willis was born in Jefferson City, Missouri. After high school, he worked in his home state as a corrections officer, in the railroad industry in Wyoming and Utah, and then returned to Missouri, where he has driven a tanker truck for a transport company for the last ten years. In 2003, he received an International Library of Poetry Laureate Certificate. When he's not writing, Wesley enjoys hunting and was surprised to learn that Daniel Boone, his childhood hero, was his ninth great-grandfather. Supererogatory of Poetry is his debut poetry collection--powerful poems inspired by lost love, first love, war, nature, beauty, humor, and death, and so much more.