A Mormon literary backcountry where words and place come together.

 

 

 

 

“milkweed” by Polly Parkinson

by admin | 3.31.10

where i broke off a stem,
white drops oozed
in a milky trickle from the plant
growing wild
in the vacant lot next door.

“bring the plant you found
it on,” my mother had said
as we settled my caterpillar
in the glass quart jar
that would be its home.

i liked to pound the hammer
on a sharp nail, driving
breathing holes into the jar lid

after a short, quiet life
of milkweed consumption,
my caterpillar cocooned itself
in a dark sack,
hanging from a broken twig,
looking quite dead.

our vigil saw the dark thing,
left alone and unjostled,
take on color

orange-hued, and variegated
in stained glass shapes
outlined in black, the wings
slowly stretched and fanned
themselves dry.

i let it go.
my jar lid cast aside.
i watched it flit away.

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Polly Parkinson lives in Salt Lake and works in the Utah Arts Council arts education residency program.  This involves visiting various schools in the state for one to eight weeks and teaching poetry or visual arts.  Her graduate program at Skidmore College focused on illustrated literature and literature about place and loss.

*Contest entry*

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Filed under: Children and nature, Nature literature, Nature poetry, Poetry, Stewardship, WIZ's Spring Poetry Runoff

4 Responses to “milkweed” by Polly Parkinson

  1. Patricia
    March 31st, 2010 at 8:24 am

    This poem is very visual, in part because I think many of us have engaged in the butterfly ritual and have a common set of memories.

    I like the resurrection overtones mixed liberally with matters of spring butterfly emergence. Also, I harbor a deep affection for milkweed, that plant species having kept constant companionship with me throughout my entire life, from my early days of pulling apart its pods to touch the silk to the wonder it still provokes when I witness how important it is to other forms of life. In WIZ’s gallery showing in the upper right hand corner there are some pictures of tarantula wasps, ants, etc. visiting horse milkweed that migrated into our yard last year. If you can get the random picture rotation function to display them.

  2. Th.
    March 31st, 2010 at 12:37 pm

    .

    Lovely.

  3. Nan McCulloch
    March 31st, 2010 at 2:50 pm

    Warm feelings of sunny carefree days fully engrossed and enchanted, but don’t drink the milk. Thanks, Polly for the memories of a magical childhood.

  4. Arthur H.
    April 1st, 2010 at 8:13 pm

    This certainly reminds me of my childhood.

    I remember feeling very hurt when it seemed like the bugs and praying mantises I caught didn’t really seem to enjoy the home I made for them. I gave them a jar, a stick, a leaf, and bugs to eat. What more could they want?

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