I am,
A moth among
Butterflies.
I tried,
So desperately,
To drink the milkweeds
And fly,
Into golden sunlight.
I played
An endless game of
Tag with the monarchs.
But,
I am a creature
Of the moon,
My wings are made
Of stardust.
I see the whole world
On my wingspan,
And,
I find hope
In the brightest light
During the darkest
Of midnights.
I,
Will never
Have the freedom
Or reason
To fly aimlessly
Into the daytime.
For I,
Am a lonely traveler,
Among many,
A creature of the moon,
And a moth among butterflies.

I remember the first time I saw one of these moths. It was somehow wounded, lying in a field near a playground during summer school when I was a small child. Everyone excitedly gathered around this strange creature. It had strange eyes displayed intimidatingly on big brown wings. The other children were screaming at how disgusting and freakish this creature was.

It flapped its wings slowly, cautiously as it crawled upon the lush green grass, able to only pick itself up for a few seconds and flutter to a new, safer location. Every time the creature would move, and the kids would excited hurry after it. The moth was beautiful and strange, and I’ll admit I was a little scared of the big eyes on such a tiny body. But I felt such empathy towards this helpless creature. I wanted to save it, to give it magical powers so it could fly away. As everyone became uninterested by the dying moth, I crouched down closer to it, wishing to release it’s pain. A gust of wind suddenly blew onto my cheek and tousled all of my hair into my eyes, and after only a moment of looking away, the moth was gone. I stood up and turned to look for my little friend, and I saw it happily fluttering away in the breeze, high above my tiny stature.

I feel like this moment became a significant change in my perspective, and I didn’t realize how much this small moment really impacted me until later on in life. Things that are frightening and very different from what we are used to should be considered sacred in our lives, because when we are gifted with these small precious moments, they are lessons and reminders of how truly beautiful life can be, and that even when life feels like it is coming to an end, all we need is hope, a little empathy, and a gust of wind to carry us on through the rough patches in our life to happiness.