imperfect summer monarch

I swear this butterfly's wings are different sizes;

that must impact flight.

If it were a tattoo I'd say the colour wasn’t packed

tight enough.

Seems confused too. It just grazed a leaf. I'm pretty

sure it didn't mean that.

This fucking butterfly.

Monarchs can live for up to six weeks but this looks

like a three-weeker max.

It lands on a dog shit and finally looks beautiful.

Ewen Glass (he/him) is a poet from Northern Ireland who lives with two dogs, a tortoise and a body of self-doubt; his poetry has appeared in the likes of Trampset, Okay Donkey, HAD, Poetry Scotland and One Art Poetry. Bluesky/X/IG: @ewenglass