Butterfly Smile: A Poem

Inspired by a friend’s Facebook post, which reminded me of these moments.

Image from WikiMedia by Alberto Salguero.

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Butterfly Smile

Wearing butterfly wings that rose over my head

and stretched past my shoulder

painted in black and red and gold

a bright bold fairy at Scarborough Fair

I was walking when a man called out

“Smile!”

when I turned to face him, silent

“Come on, smile!”

when I walked away

to my back, shielded only by gauze wrapped wire

and rapidly dissolving joy

he shouted about ‘fairy extermination’

and laughed

Later, I felt a tap on my shoulder

and turned to find two fairies

both winged in greens and browns

carrying wings larger than mine

with leaves and flowers in their hair.

One blew her pipes, a rising note

question

the other held out his hand

with a star-shaped bead gleaming blue in his palm

and when he dropped the star into mine

he smiled

and I smiled, too.