Curious Creatures

Curious creatures
are we
who hold tight
to the garbage
of our lives.

We don our hip boots
and slog through
the entrails of our past,
lost in the stench
and sorrow.

Does the butterfly eschew
the ugliness of its life
as a caterpillar,
or the darkness
of the cocoon
from which it emerged?

We humans
in our infinite
faux wisdom,
cling to our regrets
wallow in our guilt
incessantly relive our failures.

Hearts, the universal symbol
of love
are receptacles for our
hatred
distrust
jealousy
greed
cruelty.....

Curious creatures, indeed.

Copyright Anna Stephens