Caterpillars

Sylvia was struck by lightning
While reading in bed one night
She'd left the window open
And the storm caught her by surprise
For days she lay as still as stone
Hooked to pumps and tubes
Then out her window the street lights flashed
And at last a finger moved

She awoke to a cacophony of electric and radio waves
Pulsing rays of energy falling from outer space

High in swaying towers
Down in basements full of dust
She could not escape the static
Or the sixty-cycle hum
She wore dark-tinted spectacles
Several fur-lined capes
Three pairs of velvet gloves
A veil of dotted swiss

But all the earth's vibrations
Still pounded through her ears
So she packed a steamer trunk
And flew a prop plane to Belize

From there a log raft took her
Over raging waterfalls
Deep within uncharted jungle
Where giant caterpillars crawl
They spun their silk around her
A cocoon beneath the trees
And still she hangs there swaying
Deep within the dripping leaves

Keeping time with every rumble
Every quiver of the earth
And she slowly changes shape
With the turning of the world