How many words

How many words

Have been used

In search of favour

Tales of brave butterflies

Cocooned as infants

Survivors of famine

Children of privilege

Choosing a tablet

Grousing at the lack of colour

Rose gold is not an option

The grateful are not dead

When truth is told

A sense of worth

Can be distended

Pricked by conscience

Bubbles are burst

Even as they are blown

Nothing is known

Before it is proven

Love is more than

A hot flush

A fitful dream

An unrequited need

A germinating seed

Life is more than a sojourn

In a charabanc

With no destination

Other than the mystery

Of a blind alley

And occasional detour

To temper the blood

With the patience of Job

How many times

Do I need to fail

Before I find the combination

To open the door

Of my sealed heart

And finally release

My sleeping butterfly.