broken down backhoe
inside its rusting bucket
a butterfly wing
Modern Haiku, Vol. 50.2, summer 2019
Appeared in chapbook, what the sky holds, (buddha baby press, Windsor, CT, 2002)
Author’s comments:
I was walking through the parking lot of my favorite pizzeria and there was a dismantled backhoe. And there was an orange wing of a monarch butterfly. It eventually became one of the first haiku that I got published when I started submitting poetry professionally. It contains themes that have stayed in my poetry style, including the intertwine of the past and present, and a juxtaposition of nature and human civilization. The backhoe is not a living thing but has a “lifespan,” and a butterfly has such a short time on earth. The two contrasting images help my readers to contemplate their existence and appreciate the moments they have here and henceforth.