Observations At A Bus Stop On A June Morning

June morning
downtown bus stop
rock and flower garden at the stop
young girl reaches out with outstretched hands
towards the garden
will she grab a stone or flower?
The hand still reaches out
but neither rock nor flower
does she grab.
What invisible thing is she reaching towards?
This on-looker takes a closer look.
The young girl sees a beautiful butterfly
flying above a flower.
The young girl is reaching out
trying to grasp the pretty butterfly.
The hand is almost there...
near the butterfly's wings.
Slowly, slowly she reaches out
oh to touch that beautiful butterfly
The hand is near, oh so near
and then...
zoom!
The beautiful butterfly flies away
A look of disappointment
on the young girl's face
for her hand now grasps
neither rock nor flower nor butterfly.
Her hand is left grasping nothing.

She could have taken a rock or flower
but the butterfly moved and danced in the breeze
making it a much more desirable object
but to grasp a butterfly...
the butterfly flies away
leaving her with nothing.

Oh what elusive creatures butterflies are!

But it is that elusiveness that produces desire.

For those dreamers such as the young girl
beauty does not stand fixed like a statue
nor slowly shifts back and forth aimlessly like a plant
beauty moves and flows like life itself
for dreamers such as the young girl
it must either be the butterfly... or nothing.


-A poem written by Christopher Van Helsing
Monday afternoon, June 13th 2011
based on what he had observed at a bus stop
this lovely June morning.