What to
do with a chest full
of butterflies?
First: breathe in,
so that they don't die.
Then test gently—
ever so gently—for
A shadow of flutters
behind her gray eyes.
If not: stretch your jaw
until light warms their
restless backs,
and breathe,
breathe out slowly,
as they make
an escape.
But close your mouth
soon, so to keep in the
slowest.
Leave it flexing
its
wings
there...
just
in
case.
This poem seems to be about anxiety and nervousness the speaker feels when around someone they are romantically interested in. It is intriguing to me that the character has a “chest full of butterflies” but still “breathe[s] in so they don’t die”. It is ambiguous whether the speaker in trying to breathe in and make the butterflies go away, which would be characterized by taking a deep breath to calm nerves, or breathe in so the butterflies get oxygen and continue to have effect, so the speaker always feels this disquieting thrill around their crush. When the speaker exhales, they release the butterflies and “breathe out slowly as they make their escape” but close their mouth to keep some in “just in case”. While the speaker wishes they could be calm and collected around their love, they never want to get bored and the butterflies keep them attentive and passionate, which are feelings towards their lover that the speaker never wants to lose.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this poem addresses anxiety and nerves; however, I also feel as though this poem is ambiguous as to where the feelings of apprehension and tension are coming from. It could be from being around someone the speaker is romantically interested in, but it could also be referring to a huge performance an individual is about to put on or an important test that is approaching – it truly is unknown to the reader the source of nerves.
DeleteI also agree that it is interesting how the speaker has a "chest full of butterflies" but at the end the speaker mentions that you must also close your mouth "to keep in the slowest." My reaction to this was that nerves and anxiety often have a negative connotation and can be relatively debilitating and a difficult emotion for individuals to effectively cope with. However, a nervous feeling in your stomach might also be a positive thing, as it can boost your adrenaline and prove to you the importance of a situation and the care that you have for whatever you are nervous about. For example, I used to always get nervous before crucial basketball games or piano recitals, and would often make things worse by imagining my team losing or messing up a song. However, my mom would always remind me that nerves are good, because it shows I am passionate about my hobbies and that it is always a positive sign that I am worried about not doing well, because it shows I want to succeed. Therefore, completely eradicating all nerves might not be the best solution, but rather, bottling up some of those nerves and relishing those feelings might make you perform better, hence the reason why the speaker mentions nerves should also be contained.
One other thing I noticed with this poem is that it is shaped in a unique way. When I continued to stare at the shape and ponder what it looks like, I was reminded of a cocoon, which corresponds to how butterflies, or nerves, are developing inside, either waiting to be released or contained. I think that this was a very creative and powerful element of the poem because it solidifies the poem's overarching symbol as well as represents the speaker's originality.
The speaker's relatable words were light-hearted and imbued with an almost childlike sense of wonder and hope. The image of the butterfly in addition to the layout of the poem—which could be the pathway of a fluttering butterfly—helped create a sort of pleasantly contained environment that was saturated with the idea of nature’s beauty. The approach to such a common and shared experience, nervousness, had a sense of hopefulness and optimism to it that was created by the use of the “butterflies in your stomach” metaphor. There is strong imagery of opening one’s mouth in order to let the butterflies feel the sunlight and then breathing them out into the world which presented an almost youthful outlook on the shared experience of exhaling in order to calm your nerves.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me as especially interesting was the ending; leaving one butterfly to stay in your stomach seemed like maintaining a small piece of the initial adrenaline and apprehension to keep yourself going. However, “just in case” made a deeper impression on me as keeping the last butterfly “just in case” something goes wrong. The tone of the last line had a sort of ambiguity that seemed to remind me that in life things can go more than one way, that they may end with a positive or negative outcome and that our attempt to decide that outcome is like trying to catch a butterfly.
What struck me about this poem was how relatable is it. Everyone gets nervous whether it be before they have to perform or talk in front of people, start a new project, or just start up a conversation. Those butterflies are always there and never really fully go away, just calm down. It was calming just to read about breathing in and out and letting go of some of those butterflies. I also loved how at the end the person keeps a butterfly, rather than letting go of all of them. I think that it’s important to never fully relax or be 100% calm and satisfied. It you have one butterfly it can serve as motivation to keep working hard and improving everyday. If we let all the butterflies go we might become complacent and never strive for anything better.
ReplyDeleteI also love the use of butterflies as a symbol for anxiousness or nervousness. We tend to think of these things as negatives, but butterflies have a very positive connotation and show happiness and youth. Although nerves can be bad, they can also be good because it shows that we care about something and have put effort into it.
The shape of the poem also gave off the impression of a swarm of butterflies rising up and leaving. At the end of the poem, there is one word left which to me which symbolizes the remaining butterfly. The edges of the poem also have a curved shape which makes the butterflies and releasing of them seem very natural and fluid.
From my own interpretation of the poem, I take this poem to be about the nervous feelings one feels when around someone they are attracted to. It plays on the common saying “butterflies in my stomach”. To me, the poem seems to be about maintaining your love for said person by metaphorically balancing the butterflies in your stomach. First, the speaker advises the reader to take a breath, a common piece of advice to calm nerves that one feels when around someone they are attracted to. However, the speaker also advises the reader to breath out as well, but not hard enough that all the butterflies escape. This seems like the advice is to keep the love for your significant other alive by keeping the butterflies in. By the ending saying “just in case”, I interpreted as the speaker predicting hard times in the future that the butterflies will help in enduring through those times.
ReplyDeleteThe shape of the poem also looks to be half of a butterfly which emphasizes the butterflies symbolizing someone’s love for another. The picture accompanying the poem seems to be of a woman who has the faces of people, perhaps those she deeply cares about, shining bright withing her chest. The sharp contrast between the bright reds in the chest and dark blues outside of her body serve as a way to depict the intensity of her love.
I agree with you on the importance of the poem’s structural appearance, as the way in which the poem mirrors a butterfly wing not only matches the butterfly’s status as a symbol of love, but I also feel the use of only wing was very important to the poems meaning. The poem describes the feelings of one person toward another in one butterfly wing, but the entire butterfly is not complete without the other person’s emotions, symbolizing the dual nature of love. In terms of the image, it seems to be attempting to encapsulate the unique feeling of having butterflies in one’s stomach, with a very chaotic and uncertain emotion created by the attached image.
DeleteI think one aspect of the poem which you did not touch on is how the poem appears to stress the importance of a reciprocated love. Personally, I interpreted the line “A shadow of flutters behind her gray eyes” to mean that in order for a genuine relationship to form and thrive, both people involved must go through the same process outline in the poem, sharing the same nervous energy towards the other person, and that those butterflies for the other person are an indicator of a healthy and successful relationship, and that becoming complacent or too comfortable can be damaging in some ways.
Coping With striked interest within me initially due to alignment of the words. At first it was confusing and hard to follow, but when I relaxed my eyes and took in the shape of the words as a whole: first perceiving the shape as smoke or steam eagerly billowing up towards the sky, but then my perspective changed and I saw it as a butterfly wing.
ReplyDeleteDiving into the poem, the rhetorical question introducing the theme led me to pause and ponder all the different ways I would go about having a chest full of butterflies : some rational and practical (acknowledging the question as metaphor and responding to its common meaning) while others imaginative and dream-like (what if there were literal butterflies in my chest...what’s the fastest way to the ER?).
The illustration of taking delicate care of the butterflies reminded me of the nurturing nature of a mother tending to her baby, creating a parent/child relationship between one’s chest and the butterflies. It is vital for the butterflies as well as the host to breathe to continue living, reminding the audience that when one feels the onset of anxiety, to take deep breaths. The instructions then call to check the “flutters behind her gray eyes”, furthering the idea that the little children butterflies are being watched out for by the parents.
In the next stanza, the instructions begin with “if not”, inferring that there is no life in the butterfly, then open your mouth and exhale what is gone. At this point, I’ve apprehended the goal of the poet, and my interpretation leads me to assume that the butterflies symbolize the wants, dreams, ambitions and desires of the one whose chest is full of butterflies. When situations get intense and threatened, take breaths to compose yourself, then continue to delicately nudge and see if the goal is still attainable. If not, then take a deep breath in, and breathe it out, letting go completely of what one had in mind. But not to lose hope, because if you keep breathing and pumping oxygen inside, then you can catalyst other dreams if you give yourself time.
I really liked the ending especially because the phrase “just in case” reminded me of the Dr. Seuss classic, The Lorax, where at the end, he gives the boy the last seed and disappears, leaving behind a stone pile saying ‘unless’. The ending message is that if you want to make a change and you dedicate yourself to do it, it is completely possible, you just have to try.
The poem reminded me of the time I felt butterflies in my stomach. I have a lot of anxiety, and something that has always pushed me outside my comfort zone was going on school trips. We had to stay overnight in Malibu for one trip and I was really upset that I had to go. I was quiet and resentful the whole bus ride up, but in attempt to work through my anxiety and make the most of the moment, I took deep breaths and mentally let go of all the things that inhibited me from having a good time.
-Olivia Blum
P.S. The time stamp on when you posted the poem (at 2AM) made me laugh. hope your getting an adequate amount of sleep!
Appreciated. Sometimes I get enough sleep ~ that's one reason it's important to let most of the butterflies out...
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ReplyDeleteI thought this poem perfectly captured the volatility of falling in love by way of explaining the butterflies as the different feelings you may have for someone and the weights of each specific feeling. The innate human action is to want to keep these feelings inside in order to harbor them and turn into feelings of love, which is why you would breathe in slowly, and let the sun hit their backs. I related this idea to the way feelings can manifest if you allow the “slowest” butterflies, or the most lingering thoughts of someone stay with you. Yet, the end of the poem the message is given an alternate meaning, that of letting go. What I thought was falling in love, I mistook for the speaker actually falling out of love and the butterflies being representative for the way his love is leaving in the way the butterflies fly away. The last butterfly can symbolize how someone would want to hold onto as much of their lover as possible.
ReplyDeleteAs the poem goes continues, it is visibly noticeable that the spaces between the words get shorter until there it only a tiny space left. I like how the poet does this to help you get a feel of the time that will pass between the speaker and the girl, and how the butterflies in his stomach will slowly diminish. I also get a feel that it seems difficult to keep the butterflies in, since you have to keep them flexing, which reminds me of when someone flexes a muscle; it is hard to keep it flexed and often gets tiring. In addition, the “. . .” after “there” almost feels painful to read, like you’re trying to hold in something. The whole idea of keeping the butterflies in your stomach is laid out intriguingly. Holding them in feels like a troublesome task that is exhausting; however, the poem ends with “just in case” which gives off reassurance and makes the demanding task seem worth it.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s interesting how I interpreted the speakers intentions two different ways. One way I interpreted the poem was the speaker asking how to control this sensation within him. He is going through the emotion of getting the butterflies exactly at the moment he sees the girl. He reminds himself to keep calm as he calms the butterflies within him. This is all going on the moment he sees the girl, since the poem is in present tense and listed in steps. The other way I interpreted it was the speaker having knowledge about a past experience of having butterflies and he is giving advice to someone else. I have this theory because the poem starts off with a question that the speaker obviously knows the answer to; it is almost as if someone has asked him for this information, so he explains steps he has learned to keep the fuzzy warm feeling of first falling in love.
I think the speaker's perception of love is interesting and unique. He explains the feeling as nerve-wracking, as the speaker is feels the nervousness built up in his stomach, then a more confident tone of what to do if she does not feel the butterflies too, then a painful feeling caused by holding in the feelings and taking things slowly. These emotions are all so powerful and intense yet the diction in the poem is light and gentle; for example, “gently”, “wings”, “butterfly”, “warms, “slowest”, and “flutters”. These words give off the belief that love is gentle and slow, yet can be debated against since some people believe that the feeling of love is fast and hard. Personally, I believe love is not gentle and so this perspective, that I believe the speaker is trying to convey, is interesting to see, since it is the opposite of mine.
I enjoyed the shape of the poem, skimming through the blog it seems as if most of your poems are shaped. I felt as if this poem having a shape was especially important as it represented the butterfly moving about. The first time I read the poem I agreed with others that it was about nervousness and anxiety. Butterflies in your stomach or chest are usually associated with excitement or nervousness. Yet when I read it again today I thought maybe it was about anticipation, not nervousness. Although anticipation and nervousness can be experienced together, the ellipses at the end hints at something exciting ,something more to come. Usually one does not ponder over anxiety. One encourages and hopes anxiety leaves quickly. I liked how you explained your process through steps, first breathe in, second breathe out. I am very analytical person and reading these steps I started to follow them, breathing in and out as I read the poem.
ReplyDeleteI am also a very anxious person and felt like I could relate to this poem easily. Whenever I have a performance, for band or a sporting event I get the butterflies. I feel nervous and begin to bounce my leg up and down. Reading this experience and seeing it as something more than just neves was helpful to me. I saw my nervousness, something I don't like as something different, something I had never seen it as before.
I enjoyed reading this poem because I felt that I could relate to the feeling of anxiety, and process of coping with it on a personal level. Although the poem could be interpreted as being focused on the anxiety one feels with a lover, I interpreted the piece to be much broader as it can represent any burst of nervousness that one feels. Personally, I have been feeling a lot of stress throughout the past few months as I embark on forming a new life for myself as I decide my college plans and where I would like to begin my future. At first pondering my future causes me to tense up inside as the speaker explains in the beginning of the poem as I am too filled “with a chest full of butterflies”, however feeling this much stress causes more harm than good so I instantly try to relieve myself of the anxiety. I tend to do this by taking deep breaths, and as I breathe the anxiety tends to subside. I feel that this poem expresses the process of calming oneself in a perfectly accurate and creative way as I truly feel that with each breath I feel better and better as the speaker feels relief from letting each butterfly out of him. I thought it was interesting that he depicted the butterflies leaving from his mouth because I felt like it represented the relationship between being nervous and the body’s natural tendency to change its breathing patterns in times of stress in order to help cope. This poem was very comforting to read as I felt that I was not alone in struggling with anxiety and I felt as if it helped prevent anxiety by laying out the process through a friendly metaphor.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that struck me about this poem was obviously its shape - to me, it looks like it could be a butterfly wing, and I immediately noticed the gradual fading away or dwindling of the shape, which of course is what naturally happens in a butterfly wing. I really liked how that “fading away” sort of coincided with a resolution of the speaker’s conflict: nervousness. When I think of butterflies in my chest, I immediately associate with being in a high-tension or anxiety social situation, like being in a room with your crush. To me, this poem represents those few seconds from when a person is trying to tell him or herself to go talk to their crush yet feels crippling nerves, then takes that deep breath, sending some of those nerves away. I also thought it was interesting how speaker resolves to keep some butterflies in his/her chest - the slowest ones. I think that means that it’s always good to have some sort of excited feelings when you are with your lover, otherwise there is no joy and excitement inherent in the attraction, or bond, between two lovers, taking away the point of it all. To be honest, however, I am a bit confused by the significance of having the butterfly with its wings flexed at the end.
ReplyDeleteImmediately after reading the title of this poem, I was eager to read. The title, “coping with”, led me to assume that the imagery and subject matter of the poem would be dark or melancholy; however, contrary to my initial belief, the imagery was extremely light, warm, and good-feeling. This poem spoke to me as the details of what the speaker is “coping with” are never shared, rather left up to interpretation. As a reader, the interpretive quality of the poem made it more personal as I was able to connect the speaker’s language to my own experiences. Also, I found the symbol of the butterflies intriguing. I was interested in this because the butterflies symbolize the pain that the speaker suffers inside. Internal suffering is typically symbolized with dark imagery- I love that instead, the pain was symbolized as “butterflies inside” that the speaker nurtures and protects in order to reach recovery. I really love this poem.
ReplyDeleteMy first impression of seeing this poem was the overall shape of the poem itself. It seemed almost like a breath or a sigh, which started out strong but as the air slowly moved out, it seemed like there was an end to the breath, and the thought. The idea of a chest filled with butterflies also seemed a little strange; the more familiar saying is ‘a stomach filled with butterflies,’ but the idea of a chest full of butterflies gives me the feeling that the nervousness and fluttering is related to love. The speaker talks about breathing in to keep the butterflies alive, possibly because the speaker likes the feelings in his heart, even though he is uncertain about these feelings. I think that the idea of testing them gently meant to relay these feelings for the recipient to the woman. I thought it was interesting to use the phrase “A shadow of flutters behind her gray eyes,” because I expected another word before or after the word ‘flutters’. The sentence didn’t really make sense to me in the beginning, but the word “flutters” referred back to the butterflies, so I interpreted them to be the feelings of the woman.
ReplyDeleteIn the second ‘paragraph’ of the poem, I thought it was another way to face the butterflies in the chest. The first part of the poem to me talked about showing the butterflies to the woman, but the second paragraph was about letting those butterflies, (and those feelings) go, although not completely. I liked how the speaker left the possibility of the different things he could do with these feelings that he had.
Like many other comments, I thought that the shape of the poem was very peculiar and unique. The butterflies remind me of a sense of nervousness and unease or unpredictability, and are characteristic of young love or an unrequited love. The speaker seems to be instructing someone else about the feelings of unease; I interpret the person to be the girl in the image. If the girl wants to keep the unease of her feelings alive, the speaker instructs to breathe carefully and gently; he watches for the flutter of the wings behind the girl’s grey eyes which signals that the butterflies are alive. However if the girl does not want to keep her feelings alive, the speaker instructs to open her mouth and let the butterflies out to escape, but keep the slowest captive, just in case. This poem is very reminiscent of inexperienced love, painful, new, and a little nostalgic. The speaker seems to have had experience in this and sympathizes with the girl by telling her to keep a singular butterfly in case she wants to rekindle this unrequited love. The poem strikes me as bittersweet because of what it shows about the speaker. He understands the unease of love but also the sacrifice that comes with it. Though he extends his knowledge to others I am stricken with a feeling that he too keeps single butterflies in his mouth, as tokens of longing for those he once loved.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that is most interesting about this poem is the non-traditional way it says we should deal with nervousness or "a chest full of butterflies". Rather than suggesting we try to relax and get rid of the butterflies as soon as possible, the speaker suggests that we embrace the disequilibrium and savor it. In my experience, when I have been nervous I try to make myself calm again because I was taught that nervousness won't help me when I need to do something stressful like making a speech in front of a class or performing in front of a large audience. Perhaps I was wrong and that it is better to maintain a healthy amount of "butterflies" within me as the speaker seems to suggest.
ReplyDeleteBeyond the words of the poem, the image resonated with me because it perfectly depicts me when I am in certain situations. I interpreted the image as an illustration of the difference between the inner feelings of someone in a stressful situation versus the poised facade that the person shows to the world. Whenever I am nervous, I don't want to project my nervousness, so, similar to the image, there may be great turmoil within me, but I don't show it.
Overall, this poem provides a unique perspective on how we should approach uncomfortable situations and provides a strategy that I will be sure to try in my own life.
"how we should approach uncomfortable situations... provides a strategy..." What is that strategy, in non-poetic terms? What are you going to try, the next time you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation.
DeleteI'm curious how you'll translate these words into personal actions...
This poem seems to be about the butterflies one may get in their stomach when they feel nervous or excited in social situations.. I also get butterflies when I go down steep hills or roller coasters and get the feeling that my stomach is dropping. But I mostly associate butterflies with being nervous or anxious about something that I need to present, a test I need to take, or someone important that I need to talk to who makes me nervous. I really enjoyed this poem because I often get butterflies in my stomach when I’m nervous and agree that they can either be a bad thing or a good thing. The speaker says we must “breathe in, so that they don’t die,” which means that he thinks the butterflies are beneficial in some way. The speaker implies that we should protect the butterflies and keep them alive because they are beautiful insects that should be protected. I like thinking about butterflies this way. When I’m nervous, I breathe in (but not too deeply) and appreciate that the butterflies make me nervous because they push me to do a better job due to my attention and adrenaline being higher than normal. I also thought the image of the girl looking upward was interesting. It looks like the girl is observing the butterflies reminding herself to breathe in lightly and appreciate them. This image looks like a beautiful painting of her diaphragm area where the butterflies live. I also appreciated the visual image of the poem’s shape because it seems to look like a butterfly wing. The poem starts wide at the top with many butterflies and as the poem progresses, there is only one word at the bottom representing the single remaining butterfly. Next time I have butterflies, I will remember to allow a butterfly or two to continue “flexing its wings there…just in case.”
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteThe poem focuses on the typical imagery of the speaker having butterflies in their stomach as a symbol of anxiety and romantic attraction to another. The speaker details their journey trying to handle these feelings, particularly in regards to when they are unrequited. The suggestion is to rid oneself of feelings of deeper affection for the other person if they do not feel the same. The final sentence adds a layer of hope, even if it is delusional, as the speaker chooses to retain one single butterfly. This seems to indicate a selfish hope that one day they will be loved back. It seems a tinge delusion as well as there is no reason to believe that the person the speaker feels for will ever love them back and describing their eyes as gray makes them seem like they are dull and cold towards the speaker, further reinforcing the idea that it is farcical for the speaker to reserve a butterfly. The shape of the poem feels like a plume, perhaps of butterflies, rising up from a point of origination. The collage feels like it’s bursting open, but also remaining constrained. The chest of the figure is seemingly radiating blue light in the shape of butterfly wings and has a hole with blurred edges as if the emotions of the person could not be restrained within them. However, the face of the person only peaks through a small hole with rigid edges, feeling like they are trapped and constrained, as if they cannot fully express their emotions due to unreciprocated love.
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ReplyDeleteThe imagery presented in the collage paired with the poem displayed feelings that I experience so often that I was just struck with a deep relation to this poem. I perceived the poem as dealing with anxious feelings, but never quite being able to let them go. Anxiety can honestly be a pretty consuming entity and, at least for me, not only makes tasks overwhelming but feelings of inadequacy heightened. The end of the poem was extremely meaningful to me because people can teach you tactics to deal with stress on a surface level, but it’s always just there. When the ending talked about keeping the slowest butterfly in I perceived that as holding onto a little bit of tha anxiety, whether you mean to or not which is something I especially encounter. Like I mentioned above, it can be intensely engrossing and exhausting and I think the image represents this wonderfully. The woman slowly being engulfed by her chaotically peaceful surroundings, while inside she is screaming and burning hues of red and orange. That’s what it feels like, and another aspect that the image adds to the poem is the surroundings. They’re somehow both calm and hectic which to me illustrates the duality of the moments in which you can experience these emotions. It does not matter whether you are experiencing the most wonderful day of your life or the most horrid, they can still be extremely prevalent. The look on her face was to me an indication of the calm front that I at least feel I need to constantly exhibit. I feel like I get the most overwhelmed in large groups or settings where there are generally a great number of people, and I have to keep a straight and calm face while trying to relieve the stress. There might be more reasons behind her facial expression and the image in general, but that is what it meant to me and how I perceived it in relation to the poem.
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