a theory of love

[hillsides]

when she was younger,
she swallowed a prickly green caterpillar
(because children are magically curious and naïve),
who grew inside her tiny belly
instar after instar, slowly like floating balloons

when she was a little older,
it spun a cozy home of silk
smooth, of pastel corals and lavender colors, opaque
there the cocoon slept

once upon a time she met a boy
a pupal no more --
she felt the rhythms of butterfly wings inside her stomach
palms sweaty, cheeks a-flush

the boy, whose cocoon hatched at that precise moment,
felt the rhythms of butterfly wings inside his stomach
palms sweaty, cheeks a-flush

in sync, in unison
matching flutterbies
that is how you know

my fair lady; the bird and the bee
cocoon; björk