A Wigwam for a Goose's Bridle

I can see what you’re thinking,
eyes brimming with one of those types of pain
only a parent can experience: you wish
that somehow you’d realised, you wish
you’d seen something I missed, you wish
you’d had a chance to warn me, you wish
that you could have made even one small change
that changed the outcome.
Thank you, but don’t waste your time
on butterflies that died long ago.
We both know what I would have told you.
If I didn’t see the flags myself, 
I would not have let you show me. 

Written for day 6 of the Kristina Mahr TTPD challenge.