Here in caterpillar country <br />I learned how to survive <br />by pretending to be a dragon. <br />See me put on that look <br />of slow and fierce surprise <br />when I lift my bulbous head <br />and glare at an intruder. <br />Nobody seems to guess <br />how gentle I really am, <br />content most of the time <br />simply to disappear <br />by melting into the scenery. <br />Smooth and fatty and long, <br />with seven white stripes <br />painted on either side <br />and a sharp little horn for a tail, <br />I lie stretched out on a leaf, <br />pale green on my bed of green, <br />munching, munching.<br /><br />Stanley Kunitz<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hornworm-summer-reverie/
