Getting IN-volved

What do you suppose the
caterpillar is thinking

Once she has climbed
to the highest branch

And begun to spin herself
into a tight, silken cocoon?

After surviving her
dangerous childhood,

After a lifetime of work
and growth—

Was she dreaming of wings
all along?

Or did her ancestry and nature
carry her toward
what she will become?

To get IN-volved?

To let go, dissolve.

Was everything she touched
as a caterpillar important?

Or is it lost in the death
of her form—
not knowing what’s ahead?

Still more challenges await,
of kinds she has never faced before.

She has always been good
at anchoring her feet,
stretching toward the sky.

Maybe this stretch is more of an
IN-side job.