Nick Makoha invites listeners to build a cocoon, then break free.

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Matsuo Bashō wrote:

Wake, butterfly— 
it's late, we've miles 
to go together.

Poetry magazine presents Wake, Butterfly, a series of intimate portraits that invite listeners to keep creating. The series is produced by Rachel James with sound design by Axel Kacoutié.

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Here’s an edited version of Nick Makoha’s prompt:

Part one: the cocoon of shelter.

What is the cocoon you are entering? A place of tension? Of hiding? Of gestation? Or of potential? What are you protecting yourself from or preparing yourself for? Can you name the walls of this cocoon? What are they made of? Silk? Sound? Guilt? Waiting? Where do you feel most alive in that space? 

Part two: unfolding into the restlessness. 

Now comes the pressure, the restless, irreversible becoming: what begins to stir inside the cocoon. There will be chaos. Begin writing from that internal movement—this place just before the break. Let that force build in your body. Notice where it lives. Behind your ribs? In your hands? Just under the skin? What is the chaos? Let it press against the limits of the cocoon.

Part three: speak back. 

Break out of the cocoon, become the butterfly. Ask yourself: what part of me wants to speak back? What voice have I silenced? Return to a version of yourself that you might have thought was lost. Let this be your poem.

Part four: speak the piece aloud. 

Notice how your breath feels. If you're by yourself, read what you have written to yourself aloud. If you're in a community, share it with them, and do it as a chorus of voices.

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