16 Beautiful Butterflies

16 beautiful butterflies flutter,

1 gets washed down in the gutter

15 beautiful butterflies remain,

1 gets eaten, 1 goes down the drain

13 beautiful butterflies stay,

1 leaves and becomes prey

12 beautiful butterflies fly

A cat hunts, 3 more die

9 beautiful butterflies land

2 get squashed between human hands

7 beautiful butterflies take flight

1 gets too close to the light

6 beautiful butterflies survive,

1 gets lost, now there's five

5 beautiful butterflies race

1 loses and leaves no trace

4 beautiful butterflies mourn

1 crash-lands and gets its wings torn

3 beautiful butterflies enter town

They find a river, 2 of them drown

Now there's one butterfly, left all alone

Who's lost a brother for each mile it's flown

And being the last one alive is not something to desire

So, out of options, he thought of his brothers as he flew into a fire