How To Wake a Butterfly

By Loic Ekinga

How To Wake a Butterfly is a collection about transformation and growth. It follows the author's different stages in life, from childhood memories, trauma, heartbreak, and new-found love. The author wrote How To Wake a Butterfly during the lockdown, when he was forced to look at his life and retrace the many things that have nurtured his character.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odyssey Books
• Release date: May 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781922311313

Book preview

Copyright © Loic Ekinga 2021

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Published by Ensorcellia,

an imprint of Odyssey Books, in 2021

www.odysseybooks.com.au

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher.

A Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia

ISBN: 978-1922311306 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1922311313 (ebook)

Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.

— Zhuangzi

Caterpillar

I had to believe that it ends easier than it begins,

eventually.

How it almost began

Has the little boy told you

About the first time his life was saved?

It’s a short story, really.

It involves

Sharp tools, a man, a little girl

And a doctor with a conscience.

How it began

She hums to a gospel song/the doctor asks her mother and sister to get her to talk/is there anything eating her/she needs to let go of hurt to ensure a safe delivery/the baby (you) is cut out of her/she did speak to someone/you were not an easy pregnancy/it’s a boy/it’s a problem/it’s a screaming caterpillar/it won’t even look like its father/there was blood /a lot of it/there was always blood/she hums some more/will the baby grow wings/he has known

Reviews for How To Wake a Butterfly

[sunbox-557222 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

ife is a series of ups and downs, love and loss, endings and new beginnings. This is the realization that came to my mind after reading How to Wake a Butterfly. The free verse poems that are composed of carefully-chosen words awakened sentimentality and acceptance of the verities of life that make Loic’s poetry engaging. Written during the lockdown, Loic was compelled to reflect on his life and transformed his emotions into words. I am thankful to have read his poems because it made me contemplate on my life as well. My dreams, heartaches, laughter, tears, challenges and achievements came before my eyes. What has become of me? I appreciate this book so much as it is a reminder that despite life’s pain, there is beauty and freedom; I just have to find it in myself, struggle until I make peace with my past and my flaws, emerge from the chrysalis of change and self-discovery, and fly like a butterfly. Thank you Odyssey Books for the chance to review this book. I understand that I would give it an honest review.