1. Among thousands of delightful flowers moving hither and thither,
flew a lonely butterfly with a broken wing.

2. I was as delicate as the butterfly,
but not quite beautiful and bright as its wings.
When it flutters along the window panes,
it sings the only harmony it knows.

3. The darkness of the new moon is silent,
and so are the chatters and whispers of tonight.
The butterfly was quick and reckless as it got ready to take flight.

4. I do not know which I prefer,
the rebirth of a caterpillar as it turns into natures
inconspicuous ally, or the moonlight shimmering lazily
on the water creating a pathway towards nirvana,
the sound of pattering rain, or the smell just after.

5. As gloaming nears,
the birds return to the trees.
The only thing moving were
the butterfly’s wings.

6. O greedy savages of this world,
why do you imagine happiness in a chest full of treasure?
Do you not see how the butterfly is still flying with its broken wing?

7. I know of dreams deferred.
I also know that the butterfly’s
dream was deferring, but its consciousness was
moving along its wings.

8. The Earth was clean from bugs and worms,
the air from gnats and flies.
The butterfly heard the cry of loneliness
and tiredly rested on a fallen leaf.

9. When the butterfly flutters in the daylight again,
even the deeply buried happiness will urge its way
to the surface.

10. The string of mankind is about to snap.
The butterfly must be fading.

11. Strength is the result of need.
The butterfly was in desperate need of strength.
The flowers that would blossom with sunrise would
bring light to the butterfly again.

12. All is fair in love and war
but nothing fair in reality.
Nature will have to find another ally.

13. The string snaps, drowning the sunset into the water.
It has declared the end of the day for the flowers that
were swaying hither and thither.
Among them the weakening butterfly wants to sit
on a floating petal for the last time, but the flower
closes upon itself, because it, too, is shy and slow
in Nature’s blundering embrace.