![butterflyblue_hst_960.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdeCoPH1MG7BwuYS9UN4yQ9hp8haTET2E9ju5337wkbqM/butterflyblue_hst_960.jpg)
("The Butterfly Nebula" - Image from NASA)

***

_I am the slither and the slink, the feel of beak crushing fragile carapace. I am the silent movement of thousands of tiny legs propelling the curved body of the caterpillar across aphid-ruined leaves. I am the crisp of autumn, the whisper of leaves dying on the limb before spiraling toward their earthly demise. I am the stem and the thorn, the petal and the invisible pollution slowly wilting bloom._ 
            
_I am the simmering sound of fire smoldering bright inside the cavities of petrified trees, the groan of charred limbs forever reaching to the sky above. I am the decay, the dirt and the fungi, the maggot burrow in a slain creature's skin. I am the skin eroded and the skin chewed, the last breath taken as the eyes go blank. I am the sound of life silenced, of blood halted in the veins, a final flicker of whisker in the still air._
           
_I am the howl echoed across valley, the sound of paws engaged in hunt, the growl of muzzle against muzzle, the steaming red on tooth and nail during snowfall. I am the random spatter of life across perfect white, the red stain of battle soaking into the near frozen ground. I am the impermanence of life and the certitude of death, that which stalks you in your sleep at night while you protect your cubs. I am the ambivalence of midnight; I am the dark._