White Butterfly Dream

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The white butterfly raises her wings,
Setting sail across the wide Dogwood Sea.
Wind makes the crossing choppy,
White wings jibe and come about,
Alighting nowhere, like a fae albatross.
The cabbage-white butterfly blends —
She could be a dogwood petal
But for her mesmerizing aerial dance.
One tiny egg laid on the underside of a mustard leaf,
Gave birth to her brief but ecstatic life.
Her tiny white wing-sails make of the air an endless ocean.
Oh, to dance with her on the white breakers,
Smelling sweetly of spring rather than salt
With nectar’s spray dampening my skin.

Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham

Flower Maelstrom

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colorful maelstrom
paradise of May flowers
butterflies welcomed

yellow tulips

azalea and wood hyacinth

 

Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham

Cherry Intoxication

Drunk with cherry blossom aroma,
The tiniest fairy weaves a crooked path,
Skating down pink branches and
Leaping petal to petal, wings beating happily.
The pollen coats her so thickly,
The bees start to pursue her.

Cherry blossoms in Spring

She shimmers into her other form.
A pale white butterfly flutters
Where once a tiny girl with wings flew.
The bees give up the chase,
Turnings back to the cherry blooms,
Here for such a short time.

 Juniper Berries in Spring

Erratically, the fae-butterfly flies,
Lighting finally on a juniper bush.
She changes back to a young girl,
Sipping nectar from the blue dew-cones.
Her transparent wings flitter, flutter.
Then on into spring she adventures.

 Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham

Butterfly Moment Haibun

A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.
— Franz Kafka

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One of the hardest realizations after college was how ordinary my days had become. The same routine, seeing the same places, meeting the same people, day after day. Occasionally, would come a butterfly moment, when ordinary transformed into extraordinary, and my inner spark could shine.

root-bound foliage
spider plant babies waterfall
glow with health

write joyfully
creating thought collage
redolent with youth

Years later, I am locked into a similar repeating pattern, day after day, mostly domestic: cooking, cleaning, overseeing homework, laundry, ad infinitum. Writing keeps me sane, and permits the daily grind to be grist for a deeper calling. Because I must write, I find 15 minutes here and there to create. Continue reading

(micropoetry)

Caroline Skanne’s delicate micropoetry and gorgeous photos are worth a visit, I hope you will take a look. 🙂 Happy Sunday, Brenda

The Kitchen Witch

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Some moments are magical, like the moment a ladybug lands on your hand. Or the moment a butterfly emerges from its chrysalis and stretches out its wings. The moment a frog’s tadpole tail is gone forever, and its legs have fully grown. The moment Bella met the kitchen witch was a moment like that.

The kitchen witch looked like any other mom. She tied her hair in a ponytail, she was taller than the refrigerator, and she was wearing yoga pants with a loose shirt. She welcomed Bella and her mother, then she rushed around the kitchen opening the oven, stirring this, sprinkling salt on that, shaking frying pans.

She smiled and said, “Don’t touch a thing, it will all be ready on time.” She disappeared. Bella looked at the pictures in her favorite book about fairies and butterflies. Her mother sipped a glass of wine. When the kitchen witch reappeared, she was wearing a pretty dress, her earrings were swinging, and her hair was combed around her face. She had transformed, just like a butterfly.

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