The Butterfly Effect

INTRO: I wrote this poem in 2012 after I visited the Perth Museum in Western Australia. They had the most beautiful display of butterflies. As you walked through the display, spotlights came on to highlight the brilliant colours of the butterflies’ wings. Although I have used the title as a play on words, this poem is an example of the Butterfly Effect in nature. At the end of the poem, I have included a link to an interesting article explaining the history of The Butterfly Effect and examples of it in different situations in life. Beverley Joy

PODCAST – The Butterfly Effect – Podcast

I went to visit the museum today

And saw the butterflies on display

I looked in wonder at nature’s artistic

Use of colour – so metallic.

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Man cannot replicate their brilliance

Wings of iridescent blue

White with pearl essence swirling through

Yellow, so warm, colours, bright and rich

Only in nature do we see this magic.

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I’ve never seen such beauty in nature

Why does nature hide these splendid creatures

Deep in forests and country gardens

Or far away in foreign countries?

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I cannot see them from the train,

Or bus or car or aeroplane,

Or in busy city streets and parks

For we have lost or changed their habitat?

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Just as humans cannot live on a forest leaf

Butterflies can’t survive well on suburban streets

Occasionally I see a few of them

Fluttering about my flower garden.

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Now, I look for them when I go bushwalking

Or visit city botanical gardens

The butterfly, so small – seems insignificant

As it lives in silent magnificence.

Beverley Joy © 2012 of Simply Story Poetry. All rights Reserved.

You can listen to all my poems on several podcast platforms here

Here is an interesting article that explains the history of The Butterfly Effect and examples of it in different life situations.