The title blends into the first line. I wasn't prepared for that on the second read. I know the title informs the poem, but I was so struck with the first line: "A real one wouldn't need one" because the construction makes sense, but the line break makes me focus on "one." The butterfly is one The parachute is one This is followed up with further clarification of the set-up, "but the one Nathan draws surely does:" this statement make me think that Nathan is someone young and close to the speaker. What's also important with this line is that it focuses on Nathan being a creator who has a belief that a butterfly needs a parachute in this particular drawing: four oblongs the size and color of popsicles, green apple, toasted coconut and grape, flanked, two per side, by billowing valentine hearts, In a frame of Scotch tape. Even though the picture is that of a butterfly with parachute note how the descriptions seem to revolve around food "
Formerly the RetailMFA, This is the Poetry Blog of Darrell Dela Cruz