I am a tortured butterfly
From birth, caught by the hands of a man
With great glee and relishing in his
power, he took me in both hands
Careful not to crush my papery wings
For it would give him great pleasure to
rip my wings to shredded strips, one
blissful, blistery day at a time
He used thumbtacks from his toolbox
to affix me to a bulletin board
With a devilish grin, he watched as I
struggled to break free, but with each
struggle, my wings tore a little more
Leaving me marred, wondering if I
would ever have the strength to
fly again
For the most part, he preferred to
watch me writhe in pain, shaking
my antennae, determined to be free
He thought it quite funny that I
believed I had the strength to one
day move a thumbtack
He thought it hilarious that I believed
I would one day fly again, would
live the full span of my butterfly days
He enjoyed himself, each day, watching
me fight
Until one day, to his
dismay, I simply stopped
struggling
This was a problem
Although he would have loved to
watch me die a painful, broken
death, he hadn't expected it to
be so soon
There would always be more butterflies
to choose from, but he had chosen
me because of a glow that shined
through my wings
This glow was getting dimmer as
time progressed
He loved that he had been strong
enough to take my light
Still, he wasn't happy
He wanted- needed- more suffering
Filled with fury, he ripped me from
the bulletin board, in hopes to
Tear my wings for the last time
I fluttered to the ground, unable to
fly
He laughed his triumph
I knew I could fly again
I just needed a little time to heal,
a little practice,
being that I had only flown once
From a chrysalis into the hands
of this monster
So as he guffawed with delight,
I slid myself against the
floor, slipping with ease into a
little crevice, though a few, jagged
splinters of wood were now caught
in my wings
He tried to reach in and pull me out
But, lo and behold,
his fingers were much too fat
I escaped
For the moment
I would rest in the shadows until I learned
to fly again
Until I grew strong enough
to lift that window
and fly away