Karner Blue Splendor

by Alice Connally Fisk

Glorious species, endangered your plight
'tho fashioned to fill us with awe and delight.
Sporting a wingspan half-an-inch blue
you're the daintiest butterfly God ever flew.
Most comely of creatures in your wondrous role
you speak without words to the depths of our soul
'tho through the great Pine Bush within which you soar
vast lucre's created a grim zone-of-war.
Through grasping earth-spoilers and toads on the take
your Karner Blue dwelling stays ever at stake.
Your habitat threatened, profiteers seek to snatch
nearly every last bit of your blue lupine patch.
Your home -- unique globally -- means little by far
to the wielders of pressure who bulldoze and mar
with their backhoes, and blueprints for buildings of steel,
raw power and riches -- The Art of the Deal.
Such Lords of Persuasion, less one backward glance,
would sell Butterfly Soup if they had half-a-chance.
So you grieve as your helpers brave lawsuits and strife --
their eyes locked on the mark as they fight for your life.
From Lycaeides Melissa, a sincere billet-doux:
"Thank You, Counselor and Friends. You're de facto true Blue."
...May soon dawn the day when each earth-wrecking crew
sees the sacred in the splendor of our wee Karner Blue.