A Found Poem with the Species List of the National Butterfly Center
by Pepper Trail
Why did the National Butterfly Center in South Texas close last week? 🦋 |
Because of a conservative conspiracy, of course! @mehdirhasan brings you the troubling tale: pic.twitter.com/FLTzl14LeT
— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) February 8, 2022
In a country where many believe that Satan-worshipping pedophiles
run the government and the resurrection of John F. Kennedy Jr. will
restore a Trump presidency, the Butterfly Center has become
the latest unlikely victim of wild misinformation
and outright lies spreading rapidly online.
—The New York Times, February 6, 2022
How are we to make sense of this?
The Question Mark
Among the flowers are butterflies, only butterflies
The Monarch and the Soldier and the Queen
The Blue-eyed Sailor and the Painted Lady
The Dainty Sulphur and the Silver Emperor
All mingling together in peace
The Black Swallowtail
The Great Southern White
The Mexican Yellow
Outside the fence, all is fire and storm
The Malicious Skipper
The American Snout
The Fatal Metalmark
But here, can we not agree on beauty, at last?
The Common Banner
Pepper Trail is a poet and naturalist based in Ashland, Oregon. His poetry has appeared in Rattle, Atlanta Review, Spillway, Kyoto Journal, Cascadia Review, and other publications, and has been nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net awards. His collection Cascade-Siskiyou was a finalist for the 2016 Oregon Book Award in Poetry.