The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Near Angangueo
written by: Christian Ward
The ancient forests worship the red
monarch butterflies for their light –
10,000 orange floodlights throwing
up the forest’s secrets: a jaguar
locked onto a tapir’s neck, frozen
in the taxidermist’s pose until the
butterflies look away. A rock rattlesnake
duelling with a ridgenose over a military
macaw’s unravelling corpse.
An American black bear stripping
oyamel firs of their colour, arguing
with thick billed parrots, perched
like judges, over its behaviour.
Aztecs believed the red monarch butterflies
were the souls of the recently departed;
an abuela in the nearby town of Angangueo
looks nervously at the photo of a long
gone husband, his bright patina visible
even in the black and white picture,
unsure of what it might attract.
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