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The Unitarian Church in Westport

10 Lyons Plains Rd., Westport, CT 06880 - Ph: (203)227-7205 Sunday Services: 10:00 AM

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Chrysalis Diary by Paul Fleischman

August 31, 2010 by Jenny Klein

 

Part 1

Cold told me
to fasten my feet
to this branch

to shed my skin,

and I have obeyed.

December 6:

the color of leaves and life,
has vanished!

lies in ruins!
I study the
brown new world around me.

I hear few sounds.

Swinging back and forth
in the wind,
I feel immeasurably alone.

I can make out snow falling.

I find I never tire of
watching the flakes
in their multitudes
passing my window.

Astounding.
I enter these
wondrous events
in my chronicle

February 12:

Unable to see out
at all this morning.

and branches falling.

ponder their import,

and wait for more.

I wonder whether
I am the same being
who started this diary.

like the weather without.

my legs are dissolving,

my body’s not mine.
This morning,
a breeze from the south,
strangely fragrant,

a faint glimpse of green
in the branches.

Part 2

November 13:

to dangle upside down
from my perch,

to cease being a caterpillar
and I have obeyed.

Green,

has vanished!
The empire of leaves
lies in ruins!

I fear the future.

Have any others of my kind
survived this cataclysm?

January 4:

For five days and nights
it’s been drifting down.

The world is now white.
Astounding.

knowing no reader
would believe me.

An ice storm last night.

Yet I hear boughs cracking

Hungry for sounds
in this silent world,
I cherish these,

miser them away
in my memory,
and wait for more.

March 28:

I’ve felt stormy inside

My mouth is reshaping,

Wings are growing
my body’s not mine.

a red-winged blackbird’s
call in the distance,

And now I recall
that last night
I dreamt of flying

Filed Under: Readings Tagged With: Chrysalis Diary, Paul Fleischman, poetry, readings

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  • From Your Senior Minister: Facing Grace
  • Facing Grace – Rev. John’s blog
  • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – sermons
  • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – Dear Friends
  • Intern Minister’s sermons
  • Guest Minister’s sermons
  • Readings & Poetry
  • Communications from Your Ministers

     The Unitarian Church in Westport
     is a member congregation of the
     Unitarian Universalist Association

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Church Hours: Tuesday - Friday
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Summer Hours:
July & August until after Labor Day:
Tuesday - Friday 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM

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