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Butterfly Poems

The following two butterfly poems, one original, the other an American classic, examine the theme of butterfly fate from a temporal distance of one hundred years.

October Butterfly

Born to mate,
Born too late,
October butterfly,
A terrible fate.
Patricia A. Michaels

The Butterfly's Fate

Have you heard the story of the butterfly's fate,
Who flitted in a garden and chose no mate,
His wings so goregous, bright and gay,
Captivating the flowers, and none said nay.
As gayly from flower to flower he trips,
And a sweetness from all he sips,
The butterfly's life was happy and free,
He stole the honey from the busy bee.
One day he was caught in a little net,
Pinned to a card without regret,
Underneath was written, "Butterfly, useless, the date,
That was the butterfly's fate."
Estelle Pugsley Hart 1911

© 2011. Patricia A. Michaels