Dear Frank,

Taking my trash out this morning I met a young lady, a friend of yours, and I gave her the name Mercy. She didn’t speak and I wanted to befriend her, too.  

I’ve included a photo of her, plus my added notes, and all the internet had to say about her.

“The object in the image is a crowned slug moth caterpillar (Isa textula).”

She’s so relatable. I think I’m a crowned princess, too, can be considered a slug at times, and moth-like when the light is low and the questions are real, plus thrilled to be a caterpillar, knowing that if I trust the process, the growth will be worth it.

Appearance: “These caterpillars are bright green (aren’t we all that at times), flattened (that too, depending on who you’re with), and oval-shaped (I’m that, only after careful dieting), with stinging spines (when called for) arranged around their perimeter in a ‘crown’ formation.” (Yes, as mentioned above, we are royalty.)

Defense Mechanism: I do sometimes “possess hollow, quill-like hairs” (located on the back of my neck, when challenged wrongly) that are “connected to poison sacs that release toxins upon contact, causing a painful reaction.” This appears in me as railing epithets and angry outbursts (only when absolutely merited, of course).

Habitat: She can be “found in the eastern United States, often grazing on oak, basswood, and beech leaves.”  Sounds healthy.  

I named her Mercy without quite knowing why. When we met, despite her spines, she remained contained and composed. In that moment, I saw in her: restraint instead of retaliation, tenderness where sharpness might have been, space given for becoming rather than judgment rendered too soon. It felt like the right name for a creature armored in spines yet utterly devoted to transformation, and, if I’m honest, that’s the direction I hope to move in as well.

In the end, Mercy and I parted without ceremony. She stayed behind, crowned and a-bristle, minding her own small, essential work. I went back inside, still learning mine. If you see her, Frank, tell her I was so happy to meet her.  

Love,

Jane