Tuesday, February 08, 2022

QANON AND THE BUTTERFLIES

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? 🦋

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.