Ancient rhythms sang
A sea of blue wings
Named for a Persian King

With daybreak, wings pulse
Lupine’s pleasant companion
Never far from surf’s plume

Famous to the few who collect
But otherwise float nameless
On the dune’s cool breath

On dwindling deerweed they rely
Fading traces of alluvial home
And fewer ants not Argentine

With no friends to forestall
The flutter of tiny wings
Against unyielding time

Today’s cool winds blow
Lonely sparse sands
Bereft of blue

Watercolor illustration by Thomas Beutel. The Xerces blue butterfly was a species native to the dunes in San Francisco. It is recognized as the first butterfly to go extinct in North America due to human activities. In the case of Xerces blue, the dune habitat was destroyed when it was developed for housing. The butterfly is the namesake of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.