Temporary Butterfly Mistake

After I told Mary, I dug Thoreau’s Walden

She mentioned that she went off to live in the woods for a month

When it didn’t work out between her and an old boyfriend

Way up there in Rocky Raccoon Country

In the Black Hills of South Dakota

She checked in with her family after the moon and they asked if she was okay.

She said she was. And it was another sunny day.

Mary created a magnificent shield for me

Mountain Lion Man / Coyote Child

Emblazoned on the reverse

Contrary side

were owl feathers hanging for me to notice later.

I remember getting into an argument with my “bike-path boss”

Who wanted me to chop down what he called “Useless Mullein”

“Git out thar Jimmy T. and thrash down that thistle weed

Away from the important pavement”

But, fluffy mullein serves a purpose on Mary’s sacred shield

While literature counterpoints Bossmans fuzzy logic in many ways:

Mullein herb - a City Herbal by Maida Silverman - Ash Tree Publishing

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Butterflies flutter on Mary’s forearms and kiss her cheeks

Roadrunners play games with her

And trick tack on her terra firm back

She probably could convince a badger that

It needs a good scruff behind the ears occasionally

Or give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a Wolverine

Caught out of breath in a mud puddle

There was some speculation that maybe it was a mistake

That Mary wasn’t supposed to have come out as a human

This time

From the darkest depths of Mordor

Below the two tower legs

Where hills are scarred now

And pine nuts crumble too small to eat

Except for thimble joy birds.

In the Amazon, there’s a nimble creature

fluttering about

in between the size

Of a hummers and bumblebees

Maybe that’s what she should look into

Coming back next Mary-go-round.