Butterflies On The Tracks

There once was a girl 

Sometimes she'd stumble on words

Or run her head off the tracks

She understood the depth of value

She knew what was needed in this world 

In order to keep it beautiful and humane

She didn't count herself in the necessities 

She went out into the woods everyday not a minute past 4

To a little pond and an old creaky bench right by the train tracks

She did all of her writing and thinking on the bench by the pond

A butterfly landed on her lap

She picked it up on her finger 

As it crawled across her fingers and made its way down to her arms

Where her scars lay inked into her pale skin

She grew jealous of the innocent butterfly

She wished she could feel just as beautiful and free as the insect

She wished she could bring a little ray of light to others

Like the harmless little butterfly did to her

She stayed out by the pond until 7 

Not feeling the need to leave

She heard a train whistle in the distance

The sound increased as it crept closer

It went through her ears and came out of her eyes 

Creating the biggest tears she's ever felt

The lights came around the corner and quickly approached nearby the pond and the old, creaky bench

She leaped in front of the metal monster

For the hope of a better tomorrow

She was instantly gone

A little butterfly landed on the tracks

Where her body once was

And flew away with her

The girl or any other butterfly never returned

Something so beautiful, gone forever.

 

Reviews

[Aethereal]

I enjoyed the contrast between the Butterfly Beauty and the Iron Beast. The Beast is on his track stopping for no one. Power has no mercy on Beauty. You have some immortal lines in this story poem. Well done! Because of its simple vocabulary it could be illustrated as a small children's book, but we don't want children jumping in front of trains.

[Rosaria_V]

I love this and the just the meaning! "Butterflies on the tracks"

[Azure Montessa (Blue)]

Interesting word play in the following lines:
It went through her ears and came out of her eyes
She leaped in front of the metal monster.

I love how you used butterfly in this piece. :)