dangling

so i spent the day retrieving mr. fussy eater. i realized, last thing i needed was another particular eater in the house. but i got three now.

yesterday my beloved and girl got more milkweed.

the first time i found him he was on the wall, crawling up to my johnny depp poster. i would have laughed if he made it to the moustache or nose!

the second time, on a cloth rose my daughter left on the table. the third time, he'd just begun his escape.

when i picked him up, he would curl, so fat and squishy, into a ball. i kept thinking he was looking for more food. for a little guy, he sure ate a lot in three days.

but mr. fussy didn't want to eat. he kept roaming around. i kept returning him to the foodstuffs. turns out, he's looking for a place to be still and silent. to center himself before he dangles down from a pad of silk.

late last night, i went to check on him. there he was hanging like a j

he's got the most delicate longhorn antennae. his rear looks just like his head and when he gets spooked, he tucks his head under his front parts and gets real still. with his tush up in the air. since that is the part usually revealed by the stem of the plant, it makes a great deal of sense.

there are at least three other monarch caterpillars i know of, saw them walking home from the library yesterday. we're getting greedy now. but we only had four days with dear mr. fussy. so now i've got to get him a friend.

he's still and silent, feet in the air, like peter (as a poem i wrote once says).

his antannae aren't wafting around anymore, and he is just hanging there waiting to become. to metamorphosize. very inspiring. to have that time come upon you and yield to it. i hope when my time comes, i yield.

that i can let go and dangle, until the change is complete, and i can fly.