How to treat a butterfly (for Tina):
- On Building Stepping Stones
- Concrete and Abstract
Suddenly and unexpectedly captivated
The two young girls stopped their play
Noticing the wrinkled ancient gardener
As he added interest to the garden path.
They stood in their shorts and sandals
Their long hair hanging down
And watched as the old man pressed a flower
Into a freshly poured cement stepping stone.
“Will the flower stay in the cement?”
One asked
“No” replied the gardener.
“I will take the flower out
when the cement dries.”
“And what will be there, then?”
The other girl asked
The gardener thought about it
“The essence of the flower will remain.”
The girls thought about it
Jessica asked:
“Can you put a butterfly in it?”
“Yes” the gardener replied
“Can you find a butterfly?”
The two girls looked at each other and disappeared
Returning as the gardener was mixing fresh cement.
His hands old and wrinkled but strong
One girl’s hands soft and smooth
Cupped under her chin
Holding a treasure.
The gardener, putting his hand to his back
Straightened up, his eyes smiling
“And what might you have in your hands?”
“Why it’s a butterfly” she laughed
“I caught it. It’s beautiful”
He gently held out his hand
“And you want its essence in the garden?”
She looked down at her hands. “I think so” she said.
And after a pause, she asked:
“Will it die?”
“Of course” the old man said
“But I don’t want it to die”
She clasped her hands a bit tighter.
The old man cocked his head to the side
“It will only live for a day, anyway”
She looked down at her hands
“And how long will its essence be in the cement?”
He turned and looked all around the garden
“It should be there for years” he replied
She followed his gaze around the beautiful garden
“He will be here for years?”
A nod
“He will die tomorrow anyhow?”
A nod
The girls looked at each other
They looked at the cupped hands
They looked up at the cloudy sky
And the smooth young hands opened up
And the girls watched
As the beautiful butterfly found a wind current
And sailed away.
“He only gets one day.” She said
johntheplantman--Gardening 
So I got plant question for you. I have a small potted suprise lilly that had been my grandmothers. When I recieved it , it had green leaves. It has nothing green now. I was advised to stop watering it for a few months, resume watering and it would recover, but no luck. I have also been told to put it in the freezer for a few weeks but I havn’t tried that yet. Any suggestions?I
Courtney, thanks for the comment. It would depend on where you live, but here in North Georgia, we commonly grow the surprise lily outside in the ground.
The reason it is called surprise lily is because in the spring it puts up pretty strap like leaves. These leaves grow and then disappear. It looks like the plant has died, but it hasn’t.
Then the surprise–in the late summer (August here), the plant will send up a bloom –sometimes more than one. It’s like one day there’s nothing there and the next day there is a neato flower on a bare stem sticking up about 18 inches. Then the flower goes away and the bulb puts out again the following year.
If you want to keep it in a pot, I would suggest putting it in a sunny location or outdoors. I’m not sure if the cold regulates the leaf growth or not, but it probably does.
be patient, one day it will surprise you.
Oh. My. Heavenly. Stars.
“He only gets one day.”
So do we all.
Thank you for sharing this.
Wow, this is a VERY beautiful poem/story! I usually would have written about how mother nature would have reacted in the end, but this has a heart-warming touch to it and will let our children and love and Sprout as mother nature calls their name!
Love your poem, John Paul.
Loved this for so many reasons, John!