Captured - Nancy Manning

Based on Butterflies, 1878,

by Winslow Homer

This young beauty recreated on canvas. How lovely

her Victorian form--summery white blouse--royal

blue collar, cuffs, epaulets, hat. Her hair brown,

beige skirt with wildflowers laced up to the knees.

Inside this forest, sunlight dances on her hands.

Around her, green leaves create an aura. Her eyes

focused on the yellow swallowtail fluttering above,

her mate held between thumb and finger. The other hand

holds net, display box. This huntress--lips pursed,

jaw tight. A trophy collector. But I am the black

swallowtail she won’t capture. Even the artist

didn’t spot me. Blackwinged with white edging.

Elegant dots of blue, purple--a beaded necklace--

make me a rare find. I fly above, out of reach

in the dark. Wise to the danger of those hands.

---

Nancy Manning earned an MFA in Poetry from Southern Connecticut State University. Her poetry and prose have appeared in several publications, including Humans of the World, The Orchards, 2025 Connecticut Literary Anthology, Naugatuck River Review, and Unmagnolia. Her poetry collections are entitled Amethyst Garden, The Unspoken of Our Days, What Glues Us Together, and Absence. Her novel Undertow of Silence won the 2012 TAG Publishing Award for Best New YA Novel. A member of two book clubs and two writing groups, she taught middle school, high school, and college English classes and is now enjoying the gift of time in retirement.