’tis the time of caterpillars and butterflies in my backyard so I give you this poem from Christina Rossetti. (Even though it doesn’t mention the wasps that I battle for the life of my caterpillars.)
Caterpillar
Brown and furry
Caterpillar in a hurry,
Take your walk
To the shady leaf, or stalk,
Or what not,
Which may be the chosen spot.
No toad spy you,
Hovering bird of prey pass by you;
Spin and die,
To live again a butterfly.
~Christina Rossetti
If you are not already aware of it, http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/ is a great site set up by the Library of Congress, a poem a day for high school students. Some great poems here and information about how to read poetry out loud.
I’ve been seeing such cool catepillars lately!
Have you noticed the brown stripes are large this year? That means a loooong spring!
Here in NJ they have long fuzz, which I always heard meant a hard winter. I didn’t know about the stripes — let’s hope it’s right!
Ooh…I didn’t know that about the stripes. I am doing battle daily with the wasps who want my soon-to-be Monarchs. Grumble Grumble. Next year I’ll work harder to bring them inside to raise.
Poetry 180 was Billy Collins’s project when he was poet laureate. It was designed as a means of teaching high school students how to read poetry.
There’s a book version of it, too, if you prefer to hold a book in hand rather than reading online. The B&N page for it is here.
Yes, I thought it was a fabulous project and I had forgotten about it. I figured if I had forgotten, maybe others had too.
Plus they are still adding new poems, which I like. Not a stagnant site.