English Original
wildflower seeds ...
harvesting the memory
of butterflies
Honorable Mention, THF-Kukai October 2023
Deborah Karl-Brandt
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
野花種子 ...
採收
蝴蝶的記憶
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
野花种子 ...
采收
蝴蝶的记忆
Bio Sketch
Deborah Karl-Brandt works as an author, editor, and educator. Her poems have been published widely, and several have won awards. In 2025, she was selected as a fellow at Confluence. Her new book, Wild Rabbit Moon, was published in 2026.
This haiku operates on two levels. Literally, the speaker is gathering wildflower seeds/L1 in autumn; figuratively, the act of collecting seeds becomes an act of gathering and preserving memories of the butterflies/Ls 2&3 that once visited and pollinated those flowers during the summer.
ReplyDeleteThe verb "harvesting" is the haiku's most compelling word. It seamlessly bridges the physical action and the emotional reflection, transforming seed-gathering from a simple seasonal task into an act of remembrance and preservation. By collecting the seeds, the narrator symbolically preserves the life they supported, carrying forward the memory of the butterflies and the promise of their return.
Moreover, harvesting is a weighty, active verb, typically associated with crops, sustenance, and survival. Pairing it with something as delicate and ephemeral as a "memory of butterflies" creates a striking poetic tension. The contrast enriches the haiku's emotional resonance, linking the tangible work of the present with the fleeting beauty of the past.
The ellipsis after "wildflower seeds" in L1 also functions effectively. It creates a contemplative pause that separates the concrete image of seed-gathering from the imaginative leap of Ls 2&3, allowing the haiku to move naturally from the physical world into memory and reflection.