Haiku Moments; papilio

Margaret D. McGee says a haiku is a prayer of praise that celebrates God’s work by paying attention and then reflecting back, as simply and clearly as possible, what we experience in God’s created world; a way of letting God know that we are paying attention. . .

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I have been intentional about saying more with less and leaving only the bones of the composition and/or finding the essence of the object or moment and leaving everything else out. I call this my Visual Haiku 

Our landscape is full of edible plants that we share with caterpillars which in turn hatch butterflies.  Recently I looked out the window and saw orange-spotted wings settling onto a branch.  I tried to take a photo but she was too fast.  I kept watching in amazement at how quickly she landed, tasted and flitted off to the next tasty morsel.

I wanted to honor these beautiful creatures in God’s creation by capturing an essence of that moment.  I began with line and kept obliterating shapes until I felt the work gave a sense of flight and said just enough but not too much about a butterfly.  Butterflies are a symbol of new life and I hope someday to find a cocoon hanging on a leaf and watch the process of birthing a butterfly.

References:  

Isaiah 25.4; Isaiah 32.2