Do you remember
When you were
A young, innocent caterpillar,
When you basked
In the warmth of the sun,
Took pleasure in the breath
Of the gentle breeze,
And smiled at the beauty
Of all things?
Do you remember when
You had not a care
In the world,
And danced with excitement
At the break of each dawn.
Do you remember when
The world was a kaleidoscope
Of vivid colors
And a cornucopia of many sounds,
When tastes tantalized your palates,
And your emotions
Were always expected?
Do you remember
When a smile always lit
Up your face,
And was reflected
In your shining eyes,
As you laughed yourself to the brink of tears?

Those days of innocence
Are long past.
Now you do not go outside,
But instead stay and shiver
Inside your cocoon,
Wrapping yourself in blankets,
And hiding,
Attempting to shield yourself
From the world.
You hide from
The scorching sun,
The pelting rain and hail,
From the wind
That is determined to
Knock you down.
You no longer see beauty
In the dull colors
Of the rising sun,
Nor take joy
In anything
That you used to.
You’re scarred and broken,
Hurt beyond belief,
Unable to see any beauty
In the world.

You’ve built up walls
Of your insecurities,
And won’t take them down
Even among those
You call friends.
You see an insult
In every joke,
Every reference,
And though many are
Meant to hurt you,
Many aren’t.
You shake at the thought
Of confrontation,
Preferring to hide,
Inside your little cocoon.

You can’t see past your flaws,
Slight as they are
In the run of things;
You can’t see the future,
And it all seems dim to you,
Like there is nothing
Left to live for.
You don’t know if
You will ever be free
Of all this pain
That holds you down,
And makes it impossible for
You to fly.

You don’t want to try-
To live,
To be happy,
To be everything
That I know you can be.
You don’t know how.
It’s all too much,
And you don’t know
How much more you
Can take,
Before you will snap out
Like an turtle
That has taken
Too much abuse.

But what you don’t know is
That change is coming
Your way,
No matter how long it takes
To get here,
That you are beautiful and special
In so many ways,
That you shine
The brightest of us all,
Even if I am the only one
Who can see the true beauty
Of your light,
That one day you will

Rise above it all
And
FLY,
Breaking out of your cocoon,
And bursting into the sky,
As a magnificent butterfly,
Capturing the eyes of everybody
Standing below,
Gasping with amazement
And pointing at you
In wonder,
Trying so hard
To launch themselves off
Of the ground and join you
In your triumph.
But they can’t even
Make it off the ground,
So they just stand there
And gape,
Jealous of you,
And watch you
FLY.