Preservation

Desiring beauty, I pressed them all flat
between the pages of a heavy book

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspBetween the pages of a heavy book,
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp dying, their essence seeped out slowly

Their essence seeped out, slowly drying
in a monument to childhood's glimmer

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp(Erect a monument to childhood's glimmer
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp as the sun dies soft behind the clouds)

Behind the clouds there is soft pastel light
or so the ancient tales have promised me

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspI've promised tales myself, to ancient ones
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp caught in shining nets of milkweed silk

In shining nets of milkweed silk I caught them.
Desiring beauty, I pressed them all flat.