Obsidian Butterfly

A Stealth Bomber sideslips from present to past,
Becomes Obsidian Butterfly above Aztlan's volcanic teat

Passels of monarchs sideslip from cold to warm,
Hibernate in rare Oyamel fir trees

B-2 with cloaking skills sideslips stratosphere,
Mimics Itzpapalotl's plunge outta heavens
                                                                                                              
The warrior goddess sideslips in beclouding veil,                             
Lava flies, cools, clings as black chips to her ziggurat wings

Stealth Bomber barrel-rolls, sideslips from past to present,
Caches eye-witness accounts as lore

Overwintering monarchs sideslip to Tamoanchan's suckling tree,
Return to the sacred limbs every season,
Transforming its ducts to fiery shoots

Laura Stickney 


Notes:

Aztlan: Legendary ancestral home of the Aztec peoples
Oyamel: Mexican mountain forests
Itzpapalotl: Aztec warrior goddess, also called obsidian butterfly
Ziggurat: Stair-stepped edges
Tamoanchan: Mythical Mesoamerican location of origin with tree of life

B-2 image from Northrop Grumman
Itzpapalotl image from azteccalendar.com