Denise Levertov




The Disclosure

From the shriveling gray
silk of its cocoon
a creature slowly
        is pushing out
to stand clear—
                          not a butterfly,
                               petal that floats at will across
                               the summer breeze

                          not a furred
                          moth of the night
                               crusted with indecipherable
                               gold—

some primal-shaped, plain-winged, day-flying thing.