Do not be tempted to help the butterfly out of the chrysalis, should you find one that is about to emerge. It would come out grey if you do. The effort to split open the chrysalis forces the blood into the wings, imparting colour and pattern."
Don't butterflies make the best metaphors for hope? We can only ever do it all by ourselves, and when it is all over, the pain and sorrow fall away to reveal beauty.
("If you haven't cried, your eyes can't be beautiful")
And eventually, we will get compensation for our losses, "in this life or the next" (as I am used to saying). Isn't nature--life--all about equilibrium?
("If I look behind me, I will find a trail of tears")
Nothing goes unheard.
("The world quietly turns another page/And the color of the sky changes/With your sobs")
Hope lives on
in unforgettable conversations and unexpected gifts, those extra drizzlings of love "just for you" he whispers, soft smiling eyes, scent of cinammon and vanilla rising from the hot cup, candles flicker,
the way we lower our foreheads to the carpet again--aching for serenity
the way love makes distance relative--your letters still tucked in my purse
in the embrace of earth when we fall--what if there was nothing to hold you?
the walks for the sake of walking, in the dark dark night--"never pick a flower while it is dreaming!" she chides
("The earth's tears keep her smiles in bloom")
I persevere like everyone else, anticipating the day I will be able to unfold my wings.
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~title quotes Tagore; others quoted include Sophia Loren, my mother, my darling, and translated lyrics of some favourite Japanese songs
~i was flipping through a Tagore book and realized the actual quote is "It is the tears of the earth that keep her smiles in bloom." I messed up on the plurals. Nit-picking, but just in case someone quotes it.