Day 3: The Life & Times of a Monarch Butterfly

The wings of a monarch butterfly are fragile

thin, as if they could tear in the slightest gust of wind

but the monarch butterfly is restless

like maybe something in it

is whispering, shouting, urging it to keep moving.

The butterfly lives in a house made of contradictions,

and each year the restlessness wins 

and those fragile wings carry a fragile body

on a not so fragile journey 

from the United States to Mexico.

The trip takes several different lifetimes, generations

several deaths of self and

several rebirths

and by the time the monarch butterfly arrives in Mexico

it is a completely different butterfly

then the one who left the United States.

And if you ever wondered

where a monarch butterfly is from

they wouldn't be able to tell you 

because those wings are too big, take up too much space

and they become citizens of the world

because they need both places, are necessary to both places,

because they belong to Mexico and the United States 

even when they don't quite fit in either one.

About the Author

Piia Gahr, 8th grader & Somos Escritoras Alumna

Her favorite word is bittersweet; she has a cat named Despereaux (named after the French mouse), is bilingual and bicultural, and doesn’t talk about herself in the third person often.

She finds beauty in the temporary and enjoys writing, using metaphors, playing sports, acting, reading, and rainy days.

About the Blog Series

The #LatinaLuminaries Blog Series by Somos Escritoras. The series was created to illuminate the wisdom, experiences, voices, and truths of Latina women and girls and the broader Latinx community. The blog series features writing from escritoras (participants) and writing mentors from Somos Escritoras Latinx Writing Workshop. Published Latina authors, writers, poets, and illustrators who presented at our workshop also contributed to the blog series.