Before our eyes and yet unseen

Myriads of miracles come into being

As we peer dimly in our world

Magic and mystery bloom and unfurl

 

From an egg in the womb, we may trace

The primordial development of our race

And likewise all that lives takes form

Develops, emerges and is born

 

Look there, a frog, a common fly

A beetle, a bee, a butterfly

From tadpole, grub and caterpillar

An unseen force commands the tiller

 

Orchestrating  an unerring adherence

Re-ordering life and its appearance.

Yet we know more about the moon

Than the mystery wrapped in a gossamer cocoon

 

Creatures settle and change within

To pass in sleep and rise again

Do they dream new bodies and powers

And joining their kin amongst the flowers?

 

And from watery kingdoms rise

Hosts of startling dragonflies,

And clouds of mayflies that shine and glitter

In hours their watery grave to litter

 

All master their wings, and take to the sky

In fleeting moments, to mate and to die.

So too, we people who flourish to perish

We privileged witnesses, all  life must cherish

 

Consider our duty, always keeping in mind

These ephemeral wonders of every kind

And how the unfathomable soup in chrysalis

Becomes a sublime butterfly of fleeting bliss