Farewell Vanessa atalanta
farewell my admirable
red admiral – beloved mariner
of the summer skies
your brief life lived
on gilded mealy wings

From nettle patch
to wooded nettle patch
your days so brief
have brought such joy

So the lavender
so the wilted lilies
so the intricacies of all
that is dust by dust
shall be reclaimed

Under moonlight
under autumn mists
a final dalliance
and you’ll be gone

Such is the way of the world
within a rose’s memory
what love there is
what love there was
all things must pass

John Lyons