Jodi Boulton

Lepidopterology

Grandfather is in the garden
has collected another one

places it in the jar
screws the lid tight

smiles at me
squinting in the sun.

I follow him
into the house

watch the flitting
slow then stop.

He unscrews the lid tips the jar. 
She slides onto the table.

With a gentleness
reserved only for this

he places her on the black velvet mat
pushes the pearly nub
into her round black thorax
manipulates and poses the wings.

In dreams she rips her body
from the head of the pin,

her torn abdomen catches the wind
struggles to fly home, disappears

into the rising and falling chrysalis
resting on my chest.

Jodi Boulton is a writer and professor. Her work has appeared in various literary magazines including Briar Cliff Review, Collaborations, and Raleigh Review. She is working on a poetry manuscript and a work of nonfiction. When she isn’t writing, reading, or teaching, chances are she’s traveling and taking in life.