Joey Davis
CreativeGenerative Writing

Elegy of a Captive Chrysalis

A poem reflecting on the life of a butterfly born into captivity.

Published on By Joey Davis


Last weekend, I went to the zoo with my partner. We were walking through the butterfly exhibit when we saw a chrysalis hanging where they "grow" them, as other people's children were wording it. I was mesmerized by its delicate beauty and the promise of transformation held within.

I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be a butterfly born into captivity. This poem is the result of that musing:


I unfurl my wings in this strange, still air,
No wild breeze to lift me, no vast skies to dare.
My first flutter echoes against glass and steel,
A world so small, yet so surreal.

Once I dreamed, wrapped in my silken cocoon,
Of meadows vast under sun and moon.
Now I wake to curious eyes that stare,
In this crafted Eden, this managed affair.

My wings shimmer with hues never seen,
In this climate-controlled, perpetual green.
But oh, how I long for a flower untamed,
For nectar not measured, for winds unnamed.

I dance for faces pressed to the glass,
Their wonder a prison I cannot pass.
They marvel at beauty they've caged with care,
Unknowing the weight of the burden I bear.

In cycles predetermined, I live out my days,
A captive performer in nature's displays.
While kin beyond soar free and wild,
I flutter in patterns, gentle and mild.

Am I ambassador or curiosity?
A bridge between wild and civility?
In my brief life, a story's unfurled,
Of nature constrained in a miniature world.

As my wings grow weary, my time nearly done,
I ponder the flights I've never begun.
Though I've never known the boundless sky,
In the hearts of the watchers, perhaps I fly.

Rest now, they say, your beauty preserved,
But oh, what wonders remain unobserved!
In this golden cage where my life is spent,
I am both miracle and lament.


Metadata:

Reading Time: 2 minutes
Word Count: 311 words
Author: Joey Davis
Description:

A poem reflecting on the life of a butterfly born into captivity.

@article{joeydavisme2024elegy-of-a-captive-chrysalis,
  author = {Joey Davis},
  title = {Elegy of a Captive Chrysalis},
  year = {2024},
  publisher = {joeydavis.me},
  url = {https://joeydavis.me/elegy-of-a-captive-chrysalis},
}