the cocoon hung fat on the sagging branch

a slight wriggling

barely perceptible
at first

then the struggle
intensifies

the branch bobs under the shifting weight

minutes pass

a halflifetime trapped in constraint

slowly

frantically

it begins to burst free by nanometers

squirming through the lazarus exaltation or (re)birth
a brightly colored burst in the muted woods

a lone drop of rain
lands
directly upon
the newly freed
soul
with a sizzling hiss

the world seems

darker