The Last Monarch
- Cloudy, mid-October,
- And North winds lightly stirred;
- Seasons somewhat blurring
- And whirs and whistles heard.
- I saw a monarch fly-
- ing slowly, treetop high;
- No colder could it sail --
- No slower stay the sky.
- A taller maple stalled
- This butterfly, intense,
- Which toiled this day in fall
- To scale this arbor fence.
- It climbed above the tree,
- Despite the hurdle stood,
- And ne'er could mortals see
- All trees within the wood.
- G. Kittell
October 2007