I caught it with both hands
My little bu*terfly
I took it on a whim
It caught me by surprise
To find it on my path
My sullen march to work
I held it in my grasp
Like a flame so thin
A flame that never burns
I held it to my chest
And smuggled it back home
It shivered at my palm
The thought of what awaits
A sample on a board
A piercing through the chest
A steady hand to prise
Arms out-stretched and then firmly pinned
Pressed to the wood all waxed and stiff
Sometimes I fear I can't handle this
The pace and scale of remorselessness
Even the kids here would tear its wings
Rip out her colours all paper thin
These are the things, you can't shrink from this
Weep for the stalk of a fallen leaf
Take what I can and then leave the rest
Holding it tight in one gripped fist
I let her in my home
Let her find her way
It's here that we'll forget
Only for today
Just within these walls
She'll never see it all
She's fading in my arms
With a breath so faint
A voice that never spoke