Butterfly

All the mistakes I never made

The ones I didn’t have time to make

Because I never got around to them

Will one day be gratified

As they are made by you.

All the places I never went

The places just out of reach

A little further around the bend of that desert road

Where I didn’t have time to go

Will one day be visited

By you.

All the love I never gave

To the ones to whom I couldn’t give

Because I didn’t know how

To love myself

Will one day be felt

By the ones loved by you.

And when you do what I never could,

I will be set free,

Like a beetle squirming on its back

Before you scoop it with your hands,

Inspect it, and place it outside again

Before running to tell your mom.