Burgundy Butterflies

When my mother passed away in 2006, I woke up and knew it instinctively . I walked out to the terrace and looked down upon a small flowering tree and saw a swarm of burgundy butterflies that never be4

Mother always loved burgundy butterflies .
she made them promise to teach her to fly .
They always swooned round her even in the rain .
Showing all that matters in the end ws what we teach and retain .

On the day mother cried her eyes turned a paler shade of blue.
And she began to slip away from the mother I once knew .
But I stayed around to help her as everyone fled .
To thier own lives as I struggled to keep her fed .

Leaving me to watch her world slip away .
As the vacancy grew in her eyes .
Convincing themselves they did so much .
And throwing around lies .

Mother closed her eye as she ignored every change .
In her body and her mind but , she was never quite sane .
But she could paint the prettiest pictures with her gift of words .
From a silly , whimsicle tale to all things absurd .

Mother always loved us even when she would tear us all down .

She could make you laugh until you cried and cry until you drown .
She had her animal friends that knew her better side .
But even they would be trapped in the sorrow that would teach them only to cry .
As my brother and his wife locked them up alone in that house to die .

Mother helped alot of people in her life she saw were in need .
In the end of it all, these strangers were all who would try to help her and me .
Saddness passed away but only our sorrow grew .
We all still loved this lady who faded from the woman that we knew .

She always said that she would say goodbye in her own way .
And in her heart she had planned it and how it would be said .
She had fallen apart and she lost all of her remaining dreams .
All forgotten and burned away by her Dr.'s wonderful beam.

On the day mother died there were burgundy butterflies .
They swooned all around me and I started to cry .
Befor anyone told me , I already knew .
That her loveing little friends flew her away in a shoe .
So many tears filled so many peoples eyes
But her tiny , gentle friends kept thier word and they taught her to  fly .
They took her spirit in thier wings as they flew towards the sky .
I knew in that moment my mother had told me goodbye .

Wynken, Bynken and nod into the night. She sailed away on a wooden shoe.

Author's Note

This is a tribute of sorts to my mother as well as a chronicle of the events of that day. Also illustrating the turmoil my eldest brother decided to create and took everything she had when I took care of my mother for 2 years and walked away with virtually nothing but a clear conscience.