Monarch Chrysalis

Poem by Emma Agustin (‘27)

Edited by Alicia Wong (‘28)

| FALL 2024 ISSUE | POETRY

A chrysalis

Bejeweled with dewdrops

Sun-kissed pearl blue

Carefully hung from one, thin branch.

Inside, a tiny insect slumbers

Balanced on the edge of transformation

Cocooned inside, a caterpillar waits

Patiently as delicate wings begin to grow.

But soon, a tear severs the stillness

And a new creature is ready to greet the world

Pushing, shoving, reaching for the sun

And out emerges a newborn beauty.

At first, it looks wrinkled and old

Crumpled by its fragile confines

But sunset wings unfold and there takes flight,

A monarch butterfly.