The Fortnight of Wings

For most of its life, the Poweshiek skipperling is a hidden caterpillar in the wet grass — it earns just two weeks of flight, and for a while it seemed those two weeks might vanish from Earth forever. In 2022 there were nine documented sightings in the entire United States; today, hundreds rise over Michigan's prairie fens, hand-raised by scientists who wake each butterfly gently, mark it, and let it go. This piece is for the brief, blazing window when a nearly-lost species takes to the air again.