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What the Caterpillar Calls the End

—for those who are becoming

The light grew dim, the air grew still,
The green world closed, the leaf went chill.
“I am undone,” the small voice cried,
Wrapped in a thread the dusk supplied.

No sky, no sun, no place to flee;
The self dissolving silently.
It was, it seemed, the end of all:
No wings, no wind, no song, no fall.

But Time, that patient artisan,
Worked where no eye, no touch began.
What seemed a tomb was not a grave,
But silence shaped by what it gave.

And from that folded, final night
Came something trembling into light—
Not what had been, yet still the same,
But bearing now another name.

Not crawling leaf but sky-bound fire,
Not end but form the end required.
What death declared, life then revised:
The soul remade, the self-surprised.

The loss had never been denied
The shedding skin, the self that died.
For what one mourns may yet become
A wing, a flame, a kingdom come…

.

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Scharlie Meeuws, a poet born in Germany, began writing at a young age. She studied in Spain and France, writing poems in Spanish and French before settling in England, where she co-owns Thorntons Bookshop, the oldest in Oxford. Scharlie’s poetry has been featured in magazines and anthologies, including the Guardian. Her work was recognized by Nobel Prize winner Vicente Aleixandre. A member of internet writing sites, her poems have garnered awards and a large following, with over 165,000 readers. Her most recent book is The Emotional Robot and Other Poems.

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11 Responses

  1. Alan Steinle

    What death declared, life then revised:
    The soul remade, the self-surprised.

    I like these lines from your poem. They remind me of the poem “Death Be Not Proud” by John Donne. (I’m not sure you need the hyphen, though.)

    Have you read this other poem about a butterfly? It approaches the same topic in a different way.

    https://allpoetry.com/A-Conservative

    I also think your last line is impressive. One way to look at it is that the caterpillar was living in a two-dimensional kingdom, but now the butterfly can fly through a three-dimensional kingdom. However, I think you are also referring to another kind of kingdom.

    Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Scharlie, this is one of the most enchanting multi-layered poems I have read that flowed so fluidly. I was left pondering the eventual meaning, but concluded it is multifaceted. At once, this is enchanting, delightful and awesome in its power of inspiration.

    Reply
  3. Margaret Coats

    An old theme, transformed by lightly leisurely telling into the expected transcendence. The poem draws the reader through caterpillar evolution with memorable word touches, from the despairing small voice to the crown of “a kingdom come.” The best expression saved for last makes an most impressive end.

    Reply
    • Scharlie Meeuws

      Thank you Margaret, for your encouraging words. I hope this poem will give some comfort for some, thinking about transcendence , maybe with fear…..

      Reply
  4. Paul A. Freeman

    Wow! I really liked this, Scharlie.

    Some of my fave lines: ‘The self-dissolving silently’ (Though as Alan pointed out in another example, that hyphen perhaps could be axed), ‘What seemed a tomb was not a grave’ and ‘Not what had been, yet still the same’.

    This poem could be used in teaching literature, biology and philosophy!

    Thanks for the read.

    Reply
    • Scharlie Meeuws

      Thank you Paul for your lovely appraisal! I know, the hyphen should be axed but do not know how to do this. Is there an “edit”? If you are interested in my poems, my main poetry book is “Outbranching’”published in Great Britain and you can find it in Amazon, even USA. But many poems are in free verse

      Reply
      • Alan Steinle

        I wouldn’t worry too much about the hyphens. In my opinion, it is hard or impossible to make a “perfect” poem, and what we might call perfect today we might call improvable tomorrow.

        To me, transcendence is about abandoning the mistakes in our past and everything that seemed to limit us, and about keeping only what is good. Ideally, we would not look back with regret for not still being a caterpillar.

  5. Cynthia L Erlandson

    This is beautiful! My favorite lines were “Wrapped in a thread the dusk supplied.” ; “But Time, that patient artisan”; and the final two lines. I hope we hear from you again.

    Reply
  6. jd

    I agree with Cynthia about hearing from you again. The poem is lovely. I loved all of it but especially the entire final strophe. I also enjoyed the poem provided by Alan Steinle and I third the elimination of the hyphen in the second verse.

    Reply
  7. C.B. Anderson

    There is metamorphosis described, and then there is metamorphosis instantiated. This poem does both. Metaphor? Allegory? I don’t know. Why choose?

    Reply

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