The human heart beats 100,000 times a day,
40 million times a year, and up to
3 billion times in an average lifetime.

Butterfly hearts beat hundreds of thousands
of times a day, and up to 1 billion times
in their abrupt lifetimes.

But they live only 2 to 4 weeks, except
for the ones that migrate over winter,
which might last for several months.

And while we often feel that our beloveds
don’t live long enough, butterflies likely
don’t sense the brevity of their being,

nor are they aware of their loveliness,
through all billion heartbeats. Let us stop,
place a fragile hand on our chests and

feel the engines of our existence that power
our wings, thankful for our comparatively
long runs that allow us to admire

the delicacy of butterflies resting in the sun,
their pinhead hearts ticking off the remaining
minutes of their sweet little lives.