Welcome to About Time

About Time is the national newspaper for Australian prisons and detention facilities

Your browser window currently does not have enough height, or is zoomed in too far to view our website content correctly. Once the window reaches the minimum required height or zoom percentage, the content will display automatically.

Alternatively, you can learn more via the links below.

Donations via GiveNow

Email

Instagram

LinkedIn

Donate Here
•

Poetry

Butterflies

By

Wormy

Wormy writes from a prison in NSW.

Elisa Stone via Unsplash

Butterflies,

Can be the colour of your eyes.

They start life as tiny eggs,

finally having wings and six legs.

‍

From their life start to life,

they can be a gardener’s strife.

When they are slinky caterpillars,

they eat all the succulent cultivars.

‍

When they grow some more,

and have a good food store

You may find their diamond chrysalis,

where there is magic stasis.

‍

From the pupa stage,

when they are the right age,

A new butterfly will emerge,

with mother nature’s gentle urge.

Then you will see the fresh flight of the children’s delight.

‍

You can see the summer dance,

as thirsty butterflies do chance.

They dare to cross the gravel path;

butterflies come to visit gardens and soft earth.

In their colourful staggered flight,

they drink petals distilled in sunlight.

‍

They sip sweet flower nectar,

as they fluster the garden director.

With a shout and sudden dash,

at the butterfly the man does lash

But we know the butterfly will win,

you can see his cheeky grin.

‍

Across the beds she does fly

As summer sun begins to die.

Butterflies will dance and jest

For their love is the best.

Never fear the garden’s net,

For we will fly free yet.

This
piece
was originally printed in the
October 2025
edition of About Time.
By About Time

Clearly you only have to nominate ‘time travel’ as the subject of a writing competition to get people thinking.

ISSUE NO. 27
•
2 MIN READ
By Marley

Time, for me, was at first just “the clock on the wall” at high school. When is lunch? When will this test finish? And when is home time?

ISSUE NO. 27
•
1 MIN READ
By Jaivien

Have you ever found yourself at the bottom of a well?

ISSUE NO. 27
•
2 MIN READ
By Rain

The decay of an atom indicates that time itself has passed, it is the origin of our concept of time.

ISSUE NO. 27
•
3 MIN READ
Get All the Latest News From About Time in Your Inbox

Be the first to read each edition online and receive two newsletters each month filled with news stories, experiences, creativity and the voices of people in prison around the country.

X

X

You've successfully registered!
Something went wrong when we tried to register your details. Please try again.