I tried to sweep you up into
A butterfly net;
To capture those pumpkin wings
Laced with the auburn of your eyes.
Instead, in the pallid shades
Of morning light that, slanted, crept;
Through the dusted magenta blinds.
You landed in my cupped palms,
Cracked and calloused, searching for water
From the indigo depths of a pond.
I pinned you down into a photograph album,
Among other treasures, laminated and frothed
With the musty haze of deposited fingertips.
That skipped reluctantly over coffee brown polaroids,
Seeking to ease the sepia moments from it
Extracting like nectar those youthful memories.
Years had dwindled and died,
In a changeling mass of charcoal clouds
And by candlelight I sought your wings.
Nothing was left but the misshapen imprint,
Skeletal, intangible and free
From the laminate pages.
Behind me the window cradles
The ghostly handprint you made
On the night that you left.
Only revealed from its cautious shelter
When the nights are long and
As cold as I felt, that night;
When you left.
A contest entry
- The Poets' Corner by Cynthia Gaines.
1600 points, ended November 22, 29 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
-
Poignantly Powerful...
Thank you for your thought-provoking entry in the contest, I'm wishing you all the best!! 
Peace,
Cyn
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Great Ending!
The last stanza is absolutely haunting!
I'm sure you don't need it but Good luck in the competition!
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You have a very refreshing talent.
Aside from one typo (See: Candlelight, no big deal) this was remarkable.
I'm sure you'll do very well in the contest
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Wonderful take on the prompt. The fragile and short life of a butterfly esp. one trapped in a photo book is a wonderful way to express the frailness of love and emotions, those things we try so hard to capture in verse. Good luck in the contest.
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