Swiftly the swallowtail alighted

on a green elephant ear

Surprise has entered my world

Has it been too hot

to fly?

Has it wrapped itself

in a comfortable

cool cocoon?

Another lepidoptera,

the monarch, flits by the purple butterfly bush

Attracted to a hardy red hibiscus

Then admiring the

rose-colored

crape myrtle

Yet the wrens have already

departed for southern climbs

Sweet surprise, this August arrival!

D.J. Hausman-Hill

Lititz