For Memorial Day: 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.

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

By Linda Coutant

Posted May 24, 2019 at 4:35 p.m.

BOONE, N.C. — A species of butterfly found only at the Fort Bragg military installation in Fayetteville inspired former Poet Laureate of North Carolina (2012–14) Joseph Bathanti to craft the poem “Saint Francis’s Satyr Butterfly.”

A creative writing professor in Appalachian State University’s Department of English, Bathanti is also a dedicated advocate for veterans — facilitating numerous workshops and writing projects for military veterans and their families managing the aftereffects of combat and trauma related to military service.

He allows the reprinting of his poem at Memorial Day.

Bathanti has authored 17 books, served as the 2016 Charles George VA Medical Center Writer-in-Residence in Asheville and received the 2016 North Carolina Award for Literature. At Appalachian, he serves as the McFarlane Family Distinguished Professor in Interdisciplinary Education and writer-in-residence in Watauga Residential College.

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.

This poem originally appeared in War, Literature & the Arts: An International Journal of the Humanities, published by the Department of English and Fine Arts at the United States Air Force Academy.

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 Flanders 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

27

Memorial Day Ceremony at Boone Mall

Presented by MOAA and Boone Mall

May 27, 2019

11 a.m.

All veterans and the general public are invited to attend this event to honor all those who have sacrificed their lives for the freedoms we have today.

Learn more

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.