American lady
butterflies
charm and
delight
every child.
Freckled friends
gaze and gasp at
how
incredible are the
jeweled journeys of
kite-like creatures.
Luminous and
magical
nymphalidae,
orange and spotted,
perches
quietly, at
rest. Rapt rugrats
stare, bespelled,
transfixed at
uplifting wings of
Vanessa Virginiensis.
Wildflowers e-
xult:
Yes! Ours! Our
zig-zag zephyr.
Notes: This poem is my first abecedarian, an ancient form of poetry, of which Psalm 119* is an example. An ABC by Chaucer is a 14th century abecedarian. Older abecedarians had whole stanzas for each letter. Modern ones often have each line start with a different letter. I was inspired to write one by Margaret Simon and her students at Reflections on the Teche.
The butterfly is Vanessa Virginiensis, commonly called an American Lady.
*”This blessing has fallen to me…” Psalm 119 (abecedarian with stanzas starting with letters of the Hebrew alphabet).
Writing hint: I hunted in my spelling dictionary at times for just the right word. I only used one word from it. Can you guess which word?
16 thoughts on “A Butterfly Charm”
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Friendly Fairy Tales 
I admire your using every letter in this, Brenda. The American Lady looks beautiful perched on an ancient granite rock. I like the way there is lichen on it.
Is bespelled a word you had to check out? I know bewitched but don’t recognize this one. I know you probably looked up a different one but this is my guess. Hugs! xo
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No, bespelled, I came up with myself. I had to find an F. LOL I had a different F, and it just wasn’t working, and then I found freckled, and it fit. 🙂 Funny how things work out.
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Great poem!!! Okay, I just have to venture a guess…zephyr?
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Nope, I am fond of the word Zephyr, and I used it as a name in my middle grade novel. Thanks for guessing, though!
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Reblogged this on Random Ramblings; Myriad Musings and commented:
I love butterflies, and this poem is perfection!
😀
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Thank you!!
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Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
A CHARMING MONARCH BUTTERFLY?
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Close! It’s an American Lady 🙂
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I read it, after commenting…so changed thee comment. OOPS!
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Z’okay! I wish I could see a monarch. One of these days. 🙂
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Maybe I do need to get new glasses—these are from at least 6 months ago…and eye treatments have improved my vision.
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Eye glasses are so expensive. Glad your vision has improved.
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Um…one of the Latin ones?
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Nope, I got the latin names from google. 🙂 Thanks for guessing, though.
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I like the imagery of “jeweled journeys of kite-like creatures.” I’m glad I inspired you to try the form and that you didn’t leave out a single letter. You did more research than I did. Thanks.
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Isn’t it amazing how ancient the form is? It was hard to fit a narrative in. Thanks for stopping by!!
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