butterfly memorial

when i say "memorial" i mean 
"here is where the apology lays to rest."
we bring flowers & nectar to the abstraction.
they had bodies like parenthesis & silk scarves.
there was no need to take so many. torn apart. dismembered.
once a man called me "specimen" & i think i knew
how they felt. a migration lives in my bones
like a shovel. deeper & deeper. the memorial 
is closed at dusk. then, the insects return.
beat their wings. taste the air again. 
we live in a world of hallowed destructions. mostly,
i do not want to remember. the stones say, "you must."