[Poem] Funeral for a Butterfly

[aphadeon]

It all started in the sunlight
The sun was proud and so was I
Her beautiful hair, warm eyes
The butterfly stretches its incredible purple wings

I loved to be alone
a gluttony for sentiment
She turned away from me
The butterfly's yellow wings collapse

I didn't want to be here.
Despair: desire all but death.
Her eyes evaded me with shame.
The black caterpillar collides once more with earth.

A knife through her heart, I knew she loved me.
Her blood so warm, it shows her lust.
She stared at me with glassy eyes.
I spoke at this funeral for a butterfly.

Was this real? A dream? Forgotten?
Only greed defines the difference.
She calls to me, a gentle whisper.
The butterfly's blue wings twitch again.

You aren't the one I love. Go away.
Your envy is a creature known as silence.
Her heart still beats, though faintly.
This butterfly will never fly again.

These iron chains can't hold me down.
My wrath won't dwell on what I've done.
Her hair flows like a river, how disturbing.
This butterfly must try. Flitter now, broken wing.

Yet life goes on. It never ends.
The sloth of a melancholy victory.
She never loved me. I hate her.
The butterfly spreads its bright white wings in flight.


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I wrote this earlier this evening. (well, morning, now.)
Probably the most symbolic piece I have ever created.

I would like to know if it conveys my abstract message. If anyone wants to take a crack at interpreting even a part of it, I'd love to see what it means to someone else, and if it does convey the emotions and stories that hide behind it.

 

[Enjoy]

I'll take a shot at interpreting it!

I'd like to think the Butterfly is a metaphor for love beginning between two people: purple wings, symbolic of fruition of actual lust or love, but as the second stanza rolls around, the wings are yellow, an oft used colour for "friendship," which means the relationship probably turned from one of sexual desire to a more companion-based relationship. However, the protagonist/poet/character of the poem does not want friendship, so this desire for something more without receiving causes a certain hatred -- the black caterpillar. This is the part where my interpretation gets a bit fuzzy - the funeral is for the relationship, not really a person, so I'd imagine it means something along the lines of 'what was once possible is no longer.' However, again I'm fuzzy, either the same person from before or another person has taken an interest in our protagonist, bringing life to the butterfly, however meagre with blue wings.
And again, the metaphor of the butterfly states plainly (This butterfly will never fly again) "I will never love again." And, as it again gets fuzzy, I imagine the final verse to be a rather chaste view of life, an asexual love that is pure arising and 'healing' the butterfly.

Just my interpretation. I wonder how accurate or inaccurate I was?

 

[aphadeon]

I didn't expect you to be so close. It's actually a dual topic. It's about the transformation of life and love, and how they coincide. The butterfly is a metaphor for the protagonists emotions. In the first stanza, before it all begins, everything is wonderful, innocent, and naively calm; life is beautiful and grand. In the second stanza, the protagonist is starting to develop emotions, but doesn't know how to handle them so he longs to be alone, and therein people leave him alone. even her. The third stanza has him no longer wanting to live. He's alone, overemotional, confused, and in an unfair, onesided love. He perceives her pity as shame, and his heart completely crashes as he longs for death. The fourth stanza, his desperation and despair turn to hatred (the strongest form of caring), and he stabs her to death. When she stares at him, and he feels how warm she is, he realizes she did care about him. And though his emotions die with her, he's disturbingly okay with it.
But there's a complication. This isn't real. Or is it. Wait... She's still alive. He hears her voice. The twitch of the blue butterfly symbolizes his emotions twitching, though still dead. But as the voice gets closer, the butterfly gives up. There's nothing here. No emotion, no love, no feeling. He doesn't believe he ever loved her. "A creature known as silence". My favorite line Refers quite vaguely to how being alone and outcast makes you want love anyone who you think might be willing to love you back. It's being left with the silence of your own thoughts for an extended period of time that does that to you. Her heart still beats - as in, she cares about him, at least slightly. But he doesn't care. So he enters a new mindset. His despair turns to generalized rage, and he's determined to use to to reach a better place. Even the weight of his own destructive thoughts won't stop him anymore. He lets go of the past, it never happened. With one last glance at her, he sees that she is beautiful. And it bothers him greatly, because it stirs his emotions, which he doesn't want. He determines to level out his emotions, no matter what. "This butterfly must try". To him, its now or never. He makes it. He lives on, seemingly forever. The melancholy victory refers to the fact that though he won out, it doesn't really feel like a win. Even thinking back doesn't hurt him anymore. He just writes it off as hating her. The butterfly's beautiful white wings represent that it is beautiful again, but in a very different sense than it was in the beginning. A colder, simpler, lighter color. But beautiful and flying no less.

And the seven deadly sins were just sprinkled in as a nice overtone

 

[Ellie]

Hi, sorry that I suck at c&c'ing poetry and don't have much time, but one thing I noticed is the tense changes around a lot. It seems to be mostly past tense and then it breaks with lines such as

A knife through her heart, I knew she loved me.
Her blood so warm, it shows her lust.

Shows -> showed, etc.

Sorry to be a downer :p

 

[aphadeon]

No problem. And good catch, I totally missed that :X
Still, was fun to write, and means a lot to the people it was for.