It’s Poetry Friday!
A few years ago, I planted milkweed to attract monarchs. The first year I was able to spot several chrysalises and butterflies. But after that, the visitors were few and far between. Last summer there were none.
On Sunday I did my usual garden walk after returning from vacation and was delighted to spot a monarch happily sipping on a Joe Pye blossom. The next morning, I found a caterpillar, then another! For this tanka, I took the liberty of condensing the life cycle, making “yesterday” and “today” more metaphoric.
As the Monarchs Return
yesterday an egg
today a caterpillar
welcome back monarchs
stay strong and journey safely
the world awaits your beauty
Draft, 2026RoseCappelli
I can’t remember who in this community alerted us to the documentary Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World but thank you! I saw it this week with my daughter, and it was wonderful. If it’s not in a theater near you, it’s scheduled to be shown on PBS at the end of the month. So inspiring!
Molly has the roundup today at Nix the Comfort Zone. Be sure to stop by to try out some word play and for lots more poetry goodness.
Imagine the Possibilities 
Yay for the monarch returning! Fireflies and monarchs… wish I had those in my life here!!
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Thanks, Patricia! Looking forward to our Nevermores’ meeting on Tuesday.
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I released 3 monarchs last week when I returned from Maryland. They ate up almost all of my milkweed. I love that you have them, too. Be sure to report your findings to Journey North. I tried to report mine but they no longer take data about butterflies raised in a netting.
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Thanks, Margaret. I will check it out.
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I love this Rose. I think the monarchs have cycles. I’ve noticed this over the 20+ years I’ve been providing habitat and educating my communities about them. We moved in 2022, the population was down and I saw few monarchs in any stage of their life cycle (but we also moved further north). I stopped raising them, believing the science that says this is not an optical thing to to. Plus, I was raising the (in small numbers) for educational purposes and I no longer had a group to educate because of our move. But, I’ve continued to provide habitat, not only for monarchs but for other pollinators as well. This year, we’ve seen many monarchs in all stages of their life cycle, not only in our yard, but on the roadside where we have plenty of common milkweed this year. It’s been a welcome sight. I second Margaret’s suggestion about Journey North. I’ve reported to them since 2006. Twenty years! I’m so glad you saw monarchs this year and love your tanka about their reappearance.
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