Black Butterflies

Black Butterflies
There are cocoons lodged in my throat.
They are waiting for the words they hold
to become bright beautiful black butterflies.
They beckon the cosmos to hear them.
All of creation is waiting for this evolution to come.

Every day the news reveals how evil the world is,
How dark we as a society have become -
And yet the words stay stifled inside their safety net
afraid to break through,
to become a whirlwind of definitions.

I swallow these emotions;
Make my tongue a grassy knoll to help hide the
cocoons.
I pack them away and they grow bigger day by day.
They are ready to set sail,
To leave the nest of my throat,
They are ready to shed their skin -
Are ready to split open and become the dialogue
the world needs to hear.

But I am too afraid to open my mouth.
To let them breath,
I stifle them yet again.
They turn into thoughts I never
allow to leave my head.
I cage them like wild tigers,
suppress their natural transformation.

Too afraid of what they will become
if the world ever gets a hold of them.
Too anxious to climb out of the sheath
they stay protected behind -
Too sure that they will not be allowed to flutter and fly
To explore the space their wings will take them to.

I am afraid that the world will chop them up
Throw them out -
Pin back their featherweight appendages
Pluck out their eyes
and force them to the ground.
Because isn’t that what always happens?
Isn’t that what the world does
to anything that is black and beautiful?