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Advice from a Caterpillar

  • Chew your way into a new world.
  • Munch leaves. Molt. Rest. Molt
  • again. Self-reinvention is everything.
  • Spin many nests. Cultivate stinging
  • bristles. Don’t get sentimental
  • about your discarded skins. Grow
  • quickly. Develop a yen for nettles.
  • Alternate crumpling and climbing. Rely
  • on your antennae. Sequester poisons
  • in your body for use at a later date.
  • When threatened, emit foul odors
  • in self-defense. Behave cryptically 
  • to confuse predators: change colors, spit,
  • or feign death. If all else fails, taste terrible.

Amy Gerstler is the author of more than 14 collections of poetry. Her poetry collection Bitter Angel, published by North Point Press, won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1991. Her most recent book of poems is Dearest Creature (Penguin). In June 2015, Penguin will publish a new book of her poems entitled Scattered at Sea. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Paris Review, Poetry, American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. She teaches at the University of California at Irvine. “Advice from a Caterpillar” is from her 2009 collection Dearest Creature and is used by permission of Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

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  • Chew your way into a new world.
  • Munch leaves. Molt. Rest. Molt
  • again. Self-reinvention is everything.
  • Spin many nests. Cultivate stinging
  • bristles. Don’t get sentimental
  • about your discarded skins. Grow
  • quickly. Develop a yen for nettles.
  • Alternate crumpling and climbing. Rely
  • on your antennae. Sequester poisons
  • in your body for use at a later date.
  • When threatened, emit foul odors
  • in self-defense. Behave cryptically 
  • to confuse predators: change colors, spit,
  • or feign death. If all else fails, taste terrible.

Amy Gerstler is the author of more than 14 collections of poetry. Her poetry collection Bitter Angel, published by North Point Press, won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1991. Her most recent book of poems is Dearest Creature (Penguin). In June 2015, Penguin will publish a new book of her poems entitled Scattered at Sea. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Paris Review, Poetry, American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. She teaches at the University of California at Irvine. “Advice from a Caterpillar” is from her 2009 collection Dearest Creature and is used by permission of Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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