Transformation

a commentary on inner growth and transformation disguised as poetry

If you’re neurodivergent then you probably relate to feeling like you undergo inner transformation a lot; maybe moreso after diagnosis or recognition of your neurodivergence as the process of unmasking can make you feel like different people at different stages on the journey to unmasking. Your transformation may align with your special interests or phases, and you might grieve who you once were, as I did. But transformation is necessary on our journey of becoming—change is the only constant, so they say, so it is wise to get comfortable with the discomfort of transformation.

Butterfly

She floats upon a withered strand

of flower’s stem beside my hand—

a butterfly, so bold and bright,

a beauty rare for my dull sight;

Strong to fly, yet delicate,

with wings designs so intricate;

She hovers them that I may see

colours which beguile me;

Insect yet intelligent,

her knowledge is not for us meant;

How to glide from here to there,

Spiriting upon the air—

It strikes me thus, does she care?

for more than garden green and fair?

She will not stay, nor can be lured,

to feed upon this flower’s food;

She will go, and soon be gone,

another garden to belong.

Transformation

I know not how I came to think on how it cannot be

that thoughts of mine have not ’fore dwelt on this great mystery—

the glazed cocoon, shining bright, and looking to be clear,

is home to all the butterflies seen flitting through the air;

Their shapes transformed, bodies anew, antenna they do grow,

to welcome life in different form, the butterflies we know.

I wonder if they ponder it, when leaving all behind,

to shed their skin and differ shape to start upon new life...

How brave and bold to sacrifice and give up all to die,

For shortness of their time on earth, so for the chance to fly.

Further reading: this article touches on the neurodivergent experience of transformation.