Awaken! Arise, my little curious one,
for soon you’ll see me no more—
a shuddering mother leaves her egg
hidden in leaves of milkweed green;
inside is the larva of the one to come
a mirror of those are already gone;
Awaken! Arise, my little hungry one.
It was 2016, and John Stephen Hockensmith was just gifted a terrarium containing the chrysalis of a monarch butterfly. Not long after, a newly emerged monarch captivated the Georgetown-based photographer.
“I knew nothing of the miracles and mysteries that are contained in this transformation from the larva to the caterpillar, and the caterpillar turns itself inside out and becomes a chrysalis, which looks like a little drop of jade stitched up with gold thread,” he said. “About 15 days later, it turns clear, and you see a monarch inside it. Then it breaks open, and the monarch crawls out, and its wet wings are clinging. And it gets up in the air, flutters about, feeds itself and continues the migration progress to Mexico.”
Laid beneath lush green milkweed leaves
eyes closed—soaring inside—azure skies.
Reverie rising herald the glory above,
fluttering memories of freedom’s invisible
streams of thought drift inside imagination;
here, a spirit is concealed within the unseen
—secret scenes from shimmering dreams.
Known for his equine photography, Hockensmith was compelled to switch gears for a few months and began capturing the monarch’s life stages with his camera.
“They can be backlit, and they’re like little transparent sheets of cellophane orange,” he said. “What can be more beautiful than orange and living green—all of the things that are in the undercover of the natural world?”
Born of instincts that voraciously devour,
hooking upside down, to shimmy inside out
dancing, hanging, quivering, transfiguring
into a gold-buttoned jade on silken thread;
left wind-dangled before being crystallized,
fracturing open, liberation, then energized;
to drink risen winds as their wings fully dry.
He even “up and booked a flight” to follow the monarch’s southerly migration to the Cerro Pelon Mountain in central Mexico.
“When you get to the top of the mountain, [you see] nests hanging from these trees … and the floor of the mountaintop covered in monarchs,” he said. “Trees were so laden with them, [the butterflies] would bend them downward to where they touched the ground.”
There is little to think—for all is known
who is—what was—where we must go.
The language of life lives in unspoken words
driven forward by every throbbing feeling;
down ancient paths this one hasn’t traveled.
Nature’s encore—migratory cycle, cocooning,
miracles inside mysteries, again and again.
Once he returned home, Hockensmith developed The Chrysalis Project—a traveling exhibit of 24 prints, each measuring 30 by 19.5 inches, with the intention of donating 15 percent from the sale of each print to Chrysalis House of Lexington, a substance abuse program for women.
Lisa Minton, the program’s executive director, says at least a dozen of the prints are on display at the treatment center—a perfect tribute to the program’s mission.
“The chrysalis is the protected stage, right before the beautiful butterfly emerges, and that is what we want for the over 200 women and children we work with each year,” Minton said. “That’s why he picked us. That’s what we do. [Women] come in, and they fly away and become self-sufficient and take care of their babies, reunite with their other children, mend their relationships with their families, hold down a job, keep their own apartment—all of this we’re working on the whole time since she walks in the door.”
Here between the seams of everything,
dancing the dance – the chrysalis dream.
Future memories emerge from the past,
visions of heaven’s vastness pale and fade;
as nightfall settles on the living en masse,
all clustered together in a pulsing essence.
Here, between the seams of everything.
Hockensmith said he chose Chrysalis House to honor his late wife, Suzanne Hockensmith, who worked 30 years at Lexington’s Eastern State Hospital helping treat those suffering from substance abuse.
“The goal is to travel the exhibit from colleges to arboretums … in order to bring awareness to not only the chrysalis story, but to the fact that transformation is a key component to all of our lives and certainly for those who are devastated by addiction,” he said.
Feeling warmth as again the sun has rose gold,
concerts of color flow, as the orchestra tunes,
aflutter hovers holding an infinite noiseless note,
shining empyreal rays along a narrow pathway.
Preparing our passions for the passage home
taking the first updraft that lifts in shifting winds;
wings in rhythm join in freedom’s song again.
Each limited edition print sells for $495. Framed versions are also available for $795. More information can be found at finearteditions.net.
Emerging from the Darkness
When a woman enslaved by the disease of substance abuse walks into the doors of Chrysalis House, she may have hit rock bottom and have little hope left. But she is entering a program that has been saving the lives of women—and even their children—for the past four decades.
“We are Kentucky’s oldest and largest licensed treatment program for women with substance use disorders,” said Lisa Minton, Chrysalis House’s executive director. “We are one of the few programs that allow women to come in pregnant, deliver their babies, and keep their babies with them while they are in treatment.”
What began as a small program in 1978 with six beds at Lexington’s Eastern State Hospital has expanded to four residential facilities, a 40-unit apartment complex, a community center and an outpatient office. The facilities enable the program to treat and change the lives of more than 100 women a year.
Minton said Chrysalis House is more than just a treatment program. It provides mental health care, domestic violence counseling, computer and vocational training, children’s services and job placement assistance.
“It’s easier when you’re in a place that’s giving you help, but when you go back into the world, you need that skill set to carry on,” she said.
More information about Chrysalis House can be found at chrysalishouse.org.