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The Existential Butterfly

by Curtis R. Farmwald; co-published with Tomorrow Communications

116 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-0468; ISBN 1-55369-655-7; US$14.95, C$22.95, EUR15.00, £10.40

A symbolic journey from greedy self-absorbed caterpillar to introspective chrysalis to multi-faceted jewel glittering in the blue sunlit sky.

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about the book      about the author      sample excerpts or Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book This book is the natural culmination of years of interest in writing poetry and years of studying and enjoying nature. The butterfly is a metaphor for many things - change, growth, rebirth, etc. One of the things it symbolizes here is an earlier need to force ideas into the constraints of pattern and rhyme - evolving into thoughts and feelings flowing freely across the page. Also the shedding of the fear and laziness to actually become what I need to be. I'm attempting to blur or even erase the boundaries between the five sense, and between what the senses experience and what the mind and spirit think and feel. I want to portray these things all blended together in a total experience - existence.

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About the Author After three decades of pursuing the "American Dream ", 30 years of working in physically, mentally, and spiritually oppressive atmospheres, slowly but very surely killing myself in the process - I went home one night in January 2005 and decided that I'd had enough. So I simply walked away from it. Now I spend my time taking care of my home and family, my pets, livestock and poultry,and seeking a way to use my God given talents to the benefit of all. If you truly wish to know about me, read the books - it's all there.

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Sample Excerpts or Table of Contents

Morocco

When someone at work dies,
They plant a tree in the yard.
I wouldn't want that -
As if my life was only working there.
I'd want somebody to plant a tree
Somewhere really cool ‹like Morocco.
I don't know much about it
But I think it would be nice there.
A few goats and chickens
A small vineyard
A little olive grove
Maybe some figs and tangerines?

Better a live olive tree -
Than dead wood in a cabinet factory.

Concrete Chrysalis

In the inner city
Where grass only grows in the cracks of the concrete
Or in some sandy,weedy vacant lot
And even the sky is a grayer blue -
Are there any butterflies?
A glimpse of beauty can't fill an empty stomach
Or give someone a job
Or protect them from harm.
But maybe
Someone sometime could stop and look
And be touched by something
And maybe
It could cause an unreasonable wild fantastic hope
To miraculously grow and develop
And take wing
And carry them beyond the dark gray walls.

The Lady in Green

A touch of perfume hangs about her.
Numerous varied and colorful accessories
Compliment her flowing green gown.
She whispers sweet nothings on the breeze to you,
Caresses your skin with the warmth of the sun.
Raindrops brush your lips - moist gentle kisses.
Butterflies wink and flutter their wings -
Flirtatiously like colorful eyelashes.
Some seek to possess her
Others attempt to use her abuse her
To pry forth the ancient secrets
Of her earthy flesh.
But she continues to twirl
And dances away through space

Paper or Plastic

When we were stoned
A friend said he felt like
He was living in a paper bag world.
We drank from paper bags
Just like the bums on Rush St.
And it was only a paper moon
That we howled at...
Then we were presented puny pieces of paper
Giving us passage to the "real world."
A world littered with plastic -
Plastic bottles, packages and smiles
Carelessly strewn about
Uselessly cluttering the landscape.
Now I make my purchases with plastic money
Carry them home in plastic sacks,
And when someone asks me which I prefer,
Paper or plastic -
I wonder
Is there no other choice?

Carnival

But isn't the spring like a carnival
With its air of excitment and anticipation?
The birds and flowers, butterflies and trees
All putting on their gaudy attire.
The flowers and trees dance
And the birds sing
While the butterflies perform endless feats
Of athletic acrobatics
And light-heartedly clown around.
Food is abundant
And drink flows freely.
Then all too soon the magic begins to fade
The now weary participants
Pack up their belongings,
Fold up their tents and disappear -
Leaving only a litter of dead leaves
Scattered in the wind.

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Catalogue Information

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