Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Butterflies and Hurricanes......

I downloaded the song without a clue….And it freaked me out, kind of spooky at first, then I sunk into the 28th row of the orchestra pit and melted into it. I don’t know who the artist is, or where they were coming from….
just know my keywords….
that day, my feelings….
butterflies and hurricanes….


And that’s life….

The yellow butterfly, with her translucent wings, barely visible from the kitchen window, flits across the yard, dancing from blazing begonias to rotting pot of cigarette butts, she’s careless and wreckless and feminine and dainty, pointing her toes like a prima ballerina and strutting her stuff like Tina Turner….she spirals and twists and makes up her mind as she goes……


I lived through three hurricanes in a month’s time. And never saw the like of this. The damage done.

In the aftermath of the storms, the hot dirty days that followed, we drank hot beer and bathed in tepid water ladled from the neighbor’s garbage cans. We feasted on Slim Jims and hardened bagels. We slept with the windows open, the night air wailing through the broken glass, and awakened to the sun blazing and chain saws ripping through our borrowed peace. We filed insurance claims and waited, lugging our lives, as we once knew them, to the curb…

splintered, broken, waiting for the fix…..


Butterflies and Hurricanes…..

Sometimes, in the debris, stacked like pick-up sticks…we find what we were looking for all along….



The calm after the storm...
Thanksgiving leftovers…



The wish-bone .


And Butterflies are free……..

13 comments:

SHE said...

brilliant writing!

"Sometimes, in the debris, stacked like pick-up sticks…we find what we were looking for all along….

The calm after the storm...
Thanksgiving leftovers…

The wish-bone."


-sure love how you start,
where you go and how it ends with free.

beautiful. & great graphic too
"to strength, freedom & creative writing!" ~s.

skinnylittleblonde said...

Just beautiful SisterLove! I have heard the cries of 'Just Give Me Peace' for a lifetime & hurricanes, like atom bombs & love affairs can start so small, bring such destruction & leave us with a moment of peace to build upon. ILYSVFM

singleton said...

she... thank you for your beautiful words, and for "seeing" into mine, I feel as if you know.....

SLBlove....And funny how the tiniest flutter of the butterfly and the massive explosion of the bomb, can bring, in the aftermath, what we were looking for all along....Peace......

Anne said...

Amazing how that delicate butterfly can somehow survive the biggest hurricane.

Spadoman said...

Wonderful words strung together. Tells a long, sometimes horrible, but ending beautifully, story about a trial by nature. Glad the storyteller is safe and beautiful as well. Miss you guys. Peace to all.

singleton said...

Anne...Yes as if sometimes her wings are steele, and others lace...

Sweetspado....Missed you too! Glad to see you Round!

Me said...

Loved your description of the butterfly fluttering by. Good effort.

We don't get any natural disasters where I live so forgive me for not truly understanding the rest.

singleton said...

orhan....I totally forgive you, it's not a natural disaster, just life....And butterflies are free!

SpongyBones said...

So many storms. These words offer hope that some day the sun will shine again. This is cool as hell.

singleton said...

spongy.....
Hope is why the sun rises!
Peace to you my friend.

Jacob said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTd6nyHuPdw

I'm playing it now.

Had not even heard of "Muse."

And yes, butterflies ARE free. Especially the iron ones.

Jacob said...

Whoa! Gawpo's new anthem.

All please rise.
All now please step aside.
Thank you. Coming through...


Change everything you are
And everything you were
Your number has been called

Fights and battles have begun
Revenge will surely come
Your hard times are ahead

Best, you've got to be the best
You've got to change the world
And use this chance to be heard
Your time is now

Change everything you are
And everything you were
Your number has been called

Fights and battles have begun
Revenge will surely come
Your hard times are ahead

Best, you've got to be the best
You've got to change the world
And use this chance to be heard
Your time is now

Don’t let yourself down
And don’t let yourself go
Your last chance has arrived

Best, you've got to be the best
You've got to change the world
And use this chance to be heard
Your time is now

***Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Fights and Battles. Holy Mary, Theotikos, pray for us missers now and the hour of being our best.

singleton said...

gawpo...See what I mean?