Each chrysalis is an echo 
of a dream they’ve emerged from 
into this strange new world—all misty woods—
that shines off and through their enfolded wings, 
now scattered and dangling on twigs to dry. 
Soon, this, too will be memory 
as they rise, 
soar over bespeckled 
fields, dive toward nectar, 
wings vibrating a vision of freedom 
that knows only grass, breeze, the large face 
of sun, the endless promise of flight and return 
on their long migration to Mexico—until 
even that fades to autumn apparition, 
repeated and repeated 
in the wispy air. 

*Memory of Butterflies (composite photograph)
Copyrighted © 2025 by Karen Elias. All rights reserved.
Appears here with artist’s permission.

Bio: Marjorie Maddox

Karen Elias

After teaching college for 40 years, Dr. Karen Elias is an artist/activist, using photography to record the beauty and fragility of the world and to raise awareness about climate change. Her work is in private collections, has been exhibited in galleries, and has won numerous awards. She exhibits regularly at the Clinton County PA Arts Council and curates their annual juried photography exhibit.

In addition to Heart Speaks, Is Spoken For (Shanti Arts, 2022), her collaborations have appeared in many journals, including Valiant Scribe and About Place Journal. [See links under “More on the Web...” below.] She is also a playwright whose plays have been anthologized by Climate Change Theatre Action and performed in eight countries.

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Remembrance, a collaboration by Marjorie Maddox and Karen Elias in Valiant Scribe (Showcase 2024); features excerpts from their then-forthcoming book Small Earthly Space (Shanti Arts, 2025), followed by a brief interview

⚡ Three Wishes, an etymphrastic photograph by Karen Elias in response to a poem by Marjorie Maddox, “Dispersion,” appearing in Issue 24 of MacQueen’s Quinterly (August 2024)

⚡ Living Within the Art: A Poet and Photographer Discuss Their Collaboration Heart Speaks, Is Spoken For (Shanti Arts, 2022), by Maddox and Elias in The Ekphrastic Review (28 March 2022)

⚡ Memorial for George Floyd in Black and White, a collaboration by Maddox and Elias in About Place Journal (Volume 6, Issue 2: October 2020)

⚡ “Treacherous Driving” and Snow Heart, a poem by Maddox and a photograph by Elias in response, in The Ekphrastic Review (15 January 2019)