{"id":10716,"date":"2026-10-03T16:32:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T21:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/?p=10716"},"modified":"2026-10-03T16:32:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T21:32:56","slug":"final-flight-of-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/final-flight-of-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Flight of Beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

By Douglas J. Lanzo<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Inspired by observing a late summer
red-spotted purple butterfly<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quivering, yet gleaming blue \u2014
buffeted, yet tried and true \u2014
grounded wings, approaching fall,
chasing sunlight, ephemeral\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As tender dreams vanish in light,
a butterfly prepares last flight,
soaking the sun, to warm its wings,
and free its soul, of earthly things;
to soar once more, and touch the sky,
it spreads its wings, and takes to fly,
riding winds, to heights divine,
finding peace and joy aligned,
following, its Maker\u2019s plan:
ascending high\u2026in brief lifespan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Douglas Lanzo<\/strong> is an award-winning American author and poet whose Newbery-nominated, debut novel, The Year of the Bear<\/em>, won the 2023 Ames Awards for Young Adult Books, was named a Finalist for the 2023 Hawthorne Prize, and was a 2022 Firebird Award winner. His second book, I Have Lived<\/em>, was recently named a double Firebird Award Gold Medal winner in the Novella and Romance\/Suspense categories. Doug\u2019s poetry has been widely published in literary journals and anthologies in the U.S., Canada, Caribbean, England, Wales, Austria, Mauritius, India, Japan and Australia. Visit his website at www.douglaslanzo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Butterfly\"<\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Douglas J. Lanzo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"yoast_head":"\nFinal Flight of Beauty | Faith Hope & Fiction<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/final-flight-of-beauty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Final Flight of Beauty | Faith Hope & Fiction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Douglas J. 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