There is a love of wild nature in everybody, an ancient mother love ever showing itself whether recognized or no, and however covered by cares and duties.
~ John Muir
HORNWORM: SUMMER REVERIE
Here in caterpillar country
I learned how to survive
by pretending to be a dragon.
See me put on that look
of slow and fierce surprise
when I lift my bulbous head
and glare at an intruder.
Nobody seems to guess
how gentle I really am,
content most of the time
simply to disappear
by melting into the scenery.
Smooth and fatty and long,
with seven white stripes
painted on either side
and a sharp little horn for a tail,
I lie stretched out on a leaf,
pale green on my bed of green,
munching, munching.
— Stanley Kunitz
from The Collected Poems, W.W. Norton & Company
Poetry Garden
