Just to see this stunning brilliant yellow,
that's seen the brush of Michael Angelo,
flutter through the sky, this winged fellow.
Brilliant yellow!
Brilliant yellow!
Twas formed to fly! Perceive a swallowtail,
on mirrored wings, where Rorscarch blots prevail.
Its ruddered lower wing helps it to sail.
A swallowtail!
A swallowtail!
Its black and yellow hues can't be denied.
Those tiger stripes, as monikers, provide
distinctive traits, as they are classified.
Can't be denied!
Can't be denied!
What is more lovely than a butterfly?
What single word is used to signify?
'Tis only "beauty" can personify,
a butterfly --
a butterfly.
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Author Notes
This is a female Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. The blue spots at the base of its wings define its gender. The first known drawing of a North America butterfly was of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. It was drawn by John White in 1587, during Sir Walter Raleigh's third expedition to Virginia. White named his drawing "Mamankanois" which is believed to be a Native American word for "butterfly".
The eastern tiger swallowtail is the state butterfly of Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and is the state insect of Virginia.
Adults use a wide range of food sources, most preferring to nectar on sturdy plants with red or pink flowers. Males participate in a behavior called puddling, in which they congregate on mud, damp gravel or puddles. They extract sodium ions and amino acids from these sources which aid in reproduction. Males that puddle are typically fresh, and puddle only for their first couple of days. Females will occasionally puddle, but do not form congregations.
This poem is a Catskill.
A Catskill is a poem format created by I Am Cat, Catherine Ginn of Fanstory, and named by Barb H. The format consists of stanzas of 3 lines with mono-rhymed iambic pentameter, followed by 2 lines, where the last four syllables of the first line are repeated twice behind the Tercet. It can contain any number of stanzas.
So, you can graph each syllable of a typical stanza as follows:
xxxxxxRRR(Ra)
xxxxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxxxa
RRR(Ra)
RRR(Ra)
Where the xâ??s are open to anything. The aâ??s are the rhyme, and the râ??s are the repeated syllables. In parens is a syllable that is both a repeat and a rhyme.
I did make a modification in the first stanza by using two trochaic lines interposed with an iambic.
This photograph was taken by the author himself on July 13, 2017.
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