English, Jonathan Greene, Poetry, Languages

Untitled by Jonathan Greene

By T.

5 March 2014

3.88k

Untitled
Jonathan Greene

Honored when
the butterfly lights
on my shoulder.

Next stop:
a rotting log.

MARGINALIA

1.
Who are we, really, in the grand scheme of things? And is there a grand scheme, even?

2.
We wake up, we go to sleep. Day by day. After a while, the days accumulate. After a while, we start to call it life. But is it worth giving it a name? A context? Can you see the thread holding it all together?

3.
Are you special because you are loved?

4.
I changed rooms but I still sleep on the floor. One night a few months ago, I found a caterpillar trying to crawl up my arm. I freaked out. I killed it. I didn’t think. Just reacted.

5.
I wonder if people arrive at their mistakes in the same way.

6.
Who are you in the dark, I ask myself.

—

¹ This is from American Life in Poetry: Column 464 by Ted Kooser.

² Here is a complete life cycle of a monarch butterfly.

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SHARED WITH GRATITUDE

This poem appeared in American Life in Poetry: Column 464 by Ted Kooser, 2026.

ABOUT JONATHAN GREENE

Born in New York City, Jonathan Greene earned his BA in literature from Bard College and went on to study poetry with Robert Lowell and folklore with Alan Dundes. The author of more than 20 chapbooks and volumes of poetry, Greene has run Gnomon Press since 1965. He currently works as a freelance designer in Kentucky. He has received many design awards, including honors from the American Association of University Presses, the Chicago Book Clinic, the Midwest Book Show, and the Southern

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