Princess Butterfly: A Poem for Grandma

I had a whole blog posting written about a butterfly that Zoey found and how I used the experience to teach her about death and dying.  I began writing it before my Grandma passed away.  After she died I wrote a poem on the same topic.  I read it at her Funeral (through teary eyes and in a shaky voice by the end).  I decided the poem should be my posting for this week instead.  It's a more succinct and concise portrait of what I had been trying to get across anyway.  

Princess Butterfly:  A Poem for Grandma

One day Joe and Zoey brought home

a beautiful Monarch butterfly. 

When I saw the butterfly was still alive,

I felt we needed to be outside in nature,

where it belonged.  We named her Princess

Butterfly and put her on our balcony.

I thought she would fly away but she couldn’t.

We watched as she tried to flap her wings

and cheered her on, but a broken wing 

can’t carry you very far.  

The next morning Princess Butterfly

was still, her wings flat.  We brought her downstairs,

dug a hole in the ground, placed her softly  

in the dirt and covered her.  We each said something

we liked about her and blew a kiss up to the sky.

I often use our experience with the butterfly

to help explain dying and death to Zoey.

It’s a difficult idea to grasp at such a young

age that something is gone forever.  

That while you might see another butterfly

that looks exactly the same, 

the one you loved can’t be replaced.   

I thought of Princess Butterfly 

as I squeezed your hand, Grandma,

kissed your forehead, told you to rest and that

I loved you, it was difficult for me to grasp

and believe it would be the last time I would see you.

When Zoey asked me if you were going 

to get better, I told her you weren’t.  

I explained that you were like Princess Butterfly.  

I said that maybe you and Princess 

Butterfly would meet up in Heaven. 

I said maybe you two would fly together.

Zoey giggled and said, “But Great Grandma

can’t fly!”  I replied “Maybe up in Heaven she can.”

  

  

Zoey with her Great Grandma

Hunter with his Great Grandma

 I hope you are at peace now Grandma.