Fleeting Blue [Haiku]

a splotch of blue
catches my eye, i look
and it flits away

DAILY PHOTO: Silver-Washed Fritillary, Kaindy Lake in Kazakhstan

Taken in Kazakhstan in the summer of 2019 near Kaindy Lake.

Vulnerable Moment [Haiku]

warmed in morning sun -
the butterfly slowly unfolds,
briefly helpless 

Erratic [Haiku]

the butterfly
flies no straight lines, but
still finds the flower

Swallowtail [Kyōka]

a swallowtail lands;
crashed into by another,
it doesn't flinch;
ten feet away, I lean in
and it flutters away

Butterfly Paralysis [Haibun]

Struggling to wiggle its wings, the butterfly warms in the morning sun. Is it like sleep paralysis - that hypnopompic impulse to flee that's stymied by stuck muscles? What's a wind gust or rapidly advancing shadow like for the butterfly? Normally, such occurrences would provoke an erratic fluttering away. But now the screaming instinct to wing away can't be answered. Does the butterfly know dread, or does it just quietly await the moment it's unfrozen?


cool morning -
a butterfly twitches,
but can't yet fly 

DAILY PHOTO: Butterfly & Blossoms

Taken at Reynolds Nature Preserve in July of 2012

DAILY PHOTO: Posing Butterfly

Taken in the summer of 2019 in Kazakhstan.

DAILY PHOTO: Butterfly, Kaindy Lake

Taken in the summer of 2019 at Kaindy Lake

DAILY PHOTO: You know you’re stuck in traffic when…

… a butterfly lands on your hand while you’re operating a scooter.

Taken in Bangalore in the spring of 2019.
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