Butterfly Hearts
By Benjamin Major
Don't let that intellect hold you back,
Let those heart words flow through you,
Straight on to the blank page.
Don't let your inhibitions strangle you now.
You're living as though you're dancing,
Completely free.
A butterfly lands on your fingertips.
Suddenly the world dissolves,
Just a bright fluttering wing motion now.
Gandhi walked down the same alleyways
As everyone else. But what he saw was different.
Each of us walks a different alleyway, I suppose.
Remember, that butterfly was once
Wrapped tightly, mummified, in a chrysalis.
Imagine whispering into it,
Asking with incredulity,
“Why don't you come out?
The world is really beautiful out here,
There are valleys and streams,
Trees and flowers,
Bushes within which to flit around
In a bright sparkling blur on summer afternoons.”
You can imagine a small voice coming from
Within the chrysalis, replying coolly,
“What do you mean?
All I know is the world inside here.
You cannot fool me with those wild fantasies.
I can know only what I have experienced.
There is no other world than that…”
Today you look out of your window
And you see a lot of folk,
Their minds look very focused
As if they know where they are going.
But inside, their mind wings are fluttering.
Madly banging against their skulls,
Wanting to find a way out.
A neighbour is cutting down a tree.
If anybody tries to challenge him,
Urging him that he at least ask his neighbours
If they mind him performing such an act.
He suddenly sets on fire,
Tugs on his chains and yells,
“Mind your own business.
Don’t tell me what I can or cannot do.
Leave this work to real men
Or else I’ll knock off your head.”
On a grey and lifeless urban street,
A group of youngsters huddle together,
Faces hidden away in their hoods.
Now they are smashing up a bus shelter.
An old lady hurries by, tutting,
“What a world we live in these days!”
Imagine strolling up to these youngsters,
Exclaiming,“What the hell are you doing?
The world is really beautiful out here.
There are trees to climb,
Flowers to pick,
Valleys with streams to damn,
Wood to craft and make things with,
Wide open spaces and breathtaking freedom.”
I don’t have to say any more.
Listen only for that distant voice...
“I can know only what I have experienced.
There is no other world than that…”
Millions of potential butterfly hearts
Are trapped this way.