The Weeks I Live as a Female Glasswing Butterfly (Greta oto)

Moira Garland

after Pippa Little

As I re-arrange myself this rain-filled morning look
          right through me as I carry only the weight
of light     becoming an espejito      no fear
          sipping lantana nectar     concealed from a passing
crowned woodnymph or golden-hooded tanager
          and miles passed in the damp of the forest

I fly to the darker domain of the lek
          and out again to settle on a leaf      delivering the green
and black-speckled caterpillar     waiting     to become silver
          becoming    becoming the light the fearless poison
I fly up     beyond the shade
          of the sacred ceiba – linking all realms

I will fly beyond 
          the forest across so-called borders    the future
on a leaf     fed by the legacy of birds

           voyager      thousands of enchanting pillars
                      inky-fringed     we are glimpsed as no thing
                                           a spirit hidden in the blue and green

*espejito: small mirror

The Science

The elusive glasswing butterfly typically lives for just four weeks, and is found from Chile to Texas. Adult males congregate in the lek to release pheromones and compete to mate with females. Eggs are subsequently laid on the plant genus Cestrum which provides a food source, and later renders the caterpillar poisonous, combatting predators. Bird droppings also provide essential amino acids for the adult butterflies. 

Having shed its skin several times, the caterpillar transitions into the pupal stage, becoming green with black speckles, then finally silver. It now emerges with its eponymous transparent wings. This remarkable transformation – from egg to butterfly – normally takes just one month.

The ceiba tree (pronounced say-buh) is worshipped in the Mayan culture.

The Poet

Moira Garland is a poet and short fiction writer living in northern England. Her poetry appears in magazines including Stand, Dreamcatcher, The North, and Ink Sweat & Tears, and in many anthologies. She won the 2015 Poised Pen competition, and the 2016 Leeds Peace Poetry Competition. Other poems have been placed or commended in competitions. Her words appeared on the Moonriver in Wakefield to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the moon landing. She grew up in Liverpool, Hong Kong and Cheshire, and now no longer teaches adults, nor plays melodeon. Instagram, Threads, Bluesky: @moiragauthor.

Next poem: Triggers – a pantoum by Eleanor Dunn