You better fucking believe
that that caterpillar
is screaming in its chrysalis.
Not-bug, not-butterfly,
not-worm-riddled-
with-legs, not-twin-
petals-pinned-to-the-back
-of-a-dancerfucking
screaming.
Abigail Kirby Conklin
Entomology
About the Author
Abigail Kirby Conklin is an educator and writer currently based in Toronto, Ontario. She is the author of the 2020 chapbook Triage (Duck Lake Books), the Substack Recently, and a variety of other works that can be found in the Tule Review, Sugar House Review, Elevation Review, Lampeter Review, and Wild Roof Journal. She’s online at abigailkirbyconklin.us and on Instagram @akc_poetry_prints.