Page 22 - flying stones

why does milkweed’s fragrance
drive me day and night to go

from plant to plant, from bough to bough,

and eat and eat and eat?

when I feel I am swollen large

and more in charge, why is my skin
too tight? try as I might to stay the same,

I shed it and feel small again.

and I eat and I eat and I eat.

several times I nearly slip from milkweed

stems, or tip and spill from limp ends
into spider's web where other caterpillars

have met defeat, but not me!

and I eat and I eat and I eat.

some days I am amazed by the splendor
of each slender blade and stalk

I have completely stripped of leaves.

and I eat and I eat and I eat.

and as I feel a sense of wonder,
my body twists, turns and

hangs me under branch

in a tight white sheet.
I cannot feed. I cannot move my feet.

I am cocooning.