Removing Caterpillars from my Grandfather's Cabbages - Solstice Prize

Winner of Writing East Midlands Solstice Prize for Young Writers 2021.

Removing caterpillars from my Grandfather’s cabbages

I detach them gently

green, hungry, velveteen -

they have only my heart now to eat

he said to burst them with my thumb

feel their trapped bodies split, rich juices spill

tarnishing fingertips

or throw them for the fish, see them writhe

break the surface, curl themselves into ammonite fists

pulsing as they slowly sink

but I imagine their wings, useless and creased underneath

I picture the day they rupture, break free

unfurl their origami folds, fly away

and I don’t want this dominion over death -

to condemn these unfledged hopes

to an end.