The Writers' Circle

See the butterfly up in the sky.
Watch it as it flutters by!

Butterflies start as tiny eggs.
Out come caterpillars with many legs.
Little caterpillars growing long,
crawling,
feeding,
getting strong.

They love to nibble and to chew.
They eat small leaves
and big ones, too.

Four weeks pass.  They grow more.
They shed their skin.
One time, two times, three times, four.
Once again a change comes around.
Now it is hanging upside down.
Soon, it spins a silky pad
to hold on tight,                  
and a halter, too,
to keep it upright.

Now it sheds its skin
one time more,
to reveal a chrysalis,
not at all like the skin before.
Inside this shell it is changing,
growing.
Eyes, legs, wings,

are now almost showing.
What can it be?
Wait and see.
It's a butterfly!
 

Its wings are wet.
It has to rest.

It can't fly yet.
Soon, it tries hard with all its might,
spreads its four wings--

and takes a flight.
Like a flower in the sky,
what a sight --
a butterfly!
Wings of black, orange,
yellow, and blue,
red, green, gold,
and purple, too.
Colours bright as in a rainbow.

What makes these colours?
Do you know?
It's layers of little scales that we see.
They make the colours as bright as can be!
Butterflies drink nectar from 
pretty flowers.
It tastes so sweet, they sip for hours.
They use their long, thin tongues
to drink.
That's kind of odd, don't you think?
From caterpillar to butterfly
takes eight weeks in all.
All sizes of butterflies--
big and small.
See the butterfly up in the sky.
Watch it as it flutters by!