Waiting for Wings

At our house, we've been watching daily our ten little butterfly pupae (cocoons, crysalids) do nothing but hang from the netting of our indoor butterfly habitat. Several days ago, the fat, furry caterpillars all arranged themselves upside down and became very still. Then they began to change.
Now they seemingly do nothing, but I know that in this stillness, in the deep, cellular levels of their existence, there are serious and significant changes taking place. I cannot help but wonder if in their limited little insect brains, they had any understanding that such changes were coming when they felt compelled to hang themselves up and wait. Are they impatient or resigned? Will they be terrified and amazed when they emerge with different selves? Will they feel pain or discomfort? Has there ever been a caterpillar that tried to refuse the process? People certainly try to avoid traumatic change - I am a prime example!
I'm including a poem written a couple of years ago; it is much on my mind as I wait for these butterflies.

The
caterpillar
cooperates with its
chrysalis according
to the Greater Order
of the universe,
accepting its sentence of
seclusion without struggle
or complaint. It does not
rage against constraint nor
kick and claw at every
change in the season
of its growth. It
harbors no
illusion of
control.
I
am not
nearly
so
wise

~Jonnia