Quiet Chaos, by Shelly Blankman

Flight of the Butterflies 4, by Lorette C. Luzajic (Canada). 2017. Click image for artist site.

Quiet Chaos

I wish I knew
the quiet chaos
of butterflies,

their swirling world
among flowers and
wildgrasses, where

water-painted wings
catch each breath of wind,
and stained-glass colours flicker and twirl
like tiny speckles of sun through
the eye of a kaleidoscope.

I wish I knew
the quiet chaos
of butterflies.

My world is one
where feet stomp,
voices blare, and
fast is never fast enough,

where silence is scary,
colour breeds fear, and
and no one takes the time
to catch the breath of wind.

Shelly Blankman

Shelly Blankman and her retired husband have two sons who live in Texas and New York. Shelly and Jon fill their empty nest in Columbia, MD, with four rescue cats and a foster dog. Shelly spent most of her career days in public relations and journalism, although her first love has always been poetry. Previous poetry has appeared in Praxis Online Magazine, Silver Birch Press, Winedrunk Sidewalk, Whispers, and Social Justice Poetry, among other journals.