Poet Joseph Bathanti’s ‘Saint Francis’s Satyr Butterfly’

About Memorial Day

Memorial Day is an American holiday celebrated on the last Monday of May to honor the men and women who have died while serving in the military.

Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. The first national celebration of Memorial Day took place May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery.

About Memorial Day

Memorial Day is an American holiday celebrated on the last Monday of May to honor the men and women who have died while serving in the military.

Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. The first national celebration of Memorial Day took place May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery.

View larger image — Photo of the St. Francis’ satyr butterfly. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

By Elisabeth Wall

Posted May 25, 2018 at 9:17 a.m.

For Memorial Day, North Carolina Poet Laureate Emeritus Joseph Bathanti shared one of his poems originally published in War, Literature & the Arts: An International Journal of the Humanities, which is published by the Department of English and Fine Arts at the United States Air Force Academy.

Bathanti is professor of creative writing in Appalachian State University’s Department of English. He is also a dedicated advocate for veterans. He serves on the Armed Services Arts Partnership Writing Advisory Committee and directs the Appalachian Veterans Arts and Humanities Collective.

On Bathanti’s appointment as the Charles George VA Medical Center Writer-in-Residence at the Veterans Health Administration in Asheville in 2016, The Charlotte Observer columnist Dannye Romine Powell wrote, “I can’t imagine a gentler, kinder, more insightful human being to help birth the traumatic memories of war than our own Joseph Bathanti.”

Bathanti was recently named Appalachian’s inaugural McFarlane Family Distinguished Professor in Interdisciplinary Education and will teach full time in Watauga Residential College.

His poem, “Saint Francis’s Satyr Butterfly,” is inspired by a species of butterfly found only at the Fort Bragg military installation in Fayetteville.

Saint Francis’s Satyr Butterfly
By Joseph Bathanti

“All creatures have the same source as we have.”

— Saint Francis of Assisi

A reclusive small brown butterfly,
white and yellow stigmatic suns

deployed along its wing ridges,
Saint Francis’s Satyr — christened

after the 12th century Italian soldier
and POW turned mystic —

secretes itself, miraculously,
in 10 by 10 kilometers

of the 251 square mile brash
of Fort Bragg — exact coordinates classified —

beyond which — we know this much —
it has gone undetected. Shy, endangered,

preferring anonymity, it hides
in high artillery impact domains —

life often chooses death —
the fires triggered by bombardment.

It wears Marsh camouflage,
resembles in its favored habitat —

blasted sedge and beaver ruins —
a tiny standard issue

Advanced Combat Helmet.
Parsed from the chrysalis,

rent too soon from its dream of living,
the satyr blazes in desperate glory

but three or four days,
in its imaginal stage,

then tenders its life in writ sacrifice.
Its gorgeous numbers dwindle.

The caterpillar has never been seen.
We accept, on faith, metamorphosis.

About Memorial Day

Memorial Day is an American holiday celebrated on the last Monday of May to honor the men and women who have died while serving in the military.

Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. The first national celebration of Memorial Day took place May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery.

How Memorial Day is commemorated

It is traditional to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff from dawn until noon. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. In national cemeteries, volunteers place an American flag on each grave.

The wearing of poppies in honor of America’s war dead is traditional on Memorial Day. The origin of the red poppy as a modern-day symbol of this day was conceived by Moina Michael after reading John McCrae’s 1915 poem “In Flander Fields.”

In war-torn battlefields, the red field poppy (Papaver rhoeas) was one of the first plants to grow. Its seeds scattered in the wind and sat dormant in the ground, only germinating when the ground is disturbed — as it was by the brutal fighting during World War I.

Today, poppies are both the symbol of loss of life as a symbol of recovery and new life, especially in support of those in service who were damaged physically or emotionally.

High Country Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony

May

28

High Country Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony

May 28, 2018

10:30 a.m.

Boone Mall

The High Country Chapter Military Officers Association of America, the Boone Mall and the Watauga Community Band will host the 12th annual observance of Memorial Day in the High Country. Featured this year are the cadets from the Marine Corps JROTC program at Watauga High School posting the colors, American Legion Post 130 performing the flag folding ceremony and the Watauga Community Band performing a medley of patriotic and traditional compositions.

Learn more

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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How Memorial Day is commemorated

It is traditional to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff from dawn until noon. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. In national cemeteries, volunteers place an American flag on each grave.

The wearing of poppies in honor of America’s war dead is traditional on Memorial Day. The origin of the red poppy as a modern-day symbol of this day was conceived by Moina Michael after reading John McCrae’s 1915 poem “In Flander Fields.”

In war-torn battlefields, the red field poppy (Papaver rhoeas) was one of the first plants to grow. Its seeds scattered in the wind and sat dormant in the ground, only germinating when the ground is disturbed — as it was by the brutal fighting during World War I.

Today, poppies are both the symbol of loss of life as a symbol of recovery and new life, especially in support of those in service who were damaged physically or emotionally.

May

28

High Country Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony

May 28, 2018

10:30 a.m.

Boone Mall

The High Country Chapter Military Officers Association of America, the Boone Mall and the Watauga Community Band will host the 12th annual observance of Memorial Day in the High Country. Featured this year are the cadets from the Marine Corps JROTC program at Watauga High School posting the colors, American Legion Post 130 performing the flag folding ceremony and the Watauga Community Band performing a medley of patriotic and traditional compositions.