Break Free

The caterpillar knew 

That where the caterpillars stood

Was on the leaf.

The leaf is safe.

You’re not too high

Or in the way.

You can stay right here

All through the day.

“But why stay here?”

The caterpillar asked.

“Why can’t I fly high?

High into the sky

Like the butterfly.”

“I could flap my wings

And fly away.

Instead of being confined

To the leaf all through the day.”

But the other caterpillars said

“You can never go up there 

 To where the butterfly flows.

You’re just a caterpillar you know”

So the caterpillar stayed on the leaf

Like the other caterpillars said,

Yet all the while he had dreams

Of flying dancing in his head.

He imagined flapping his colorful wings

And flying from flower to flower.

He could be anywhere he wanted

No matter the hour.

Then one day the caterpillar

Could take it no more.

He pushed as hard as he could

And broke free from the mold.

He flapped his wings and flight took hold.

He said to the others,

“Hey look at me, I’m flying away.

I just became a beautiful butterfly today!”

But the other caterpillars said to him,

“You can’t just become a butterfly

And flap your wings and go.

Get back on the leaf.

You’re a caterpillar you know.”

But the now butterfly knew

There was no going back.

He said to them, “You can be

A butterfly too and fly away.

You don’t have to stay a caterpillar forever.

You can change!”