Butterfly Laughter

Poems ~ Butterfly Laughter written by Katherine Mansfield

1923.

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In the middle of our porridge plates
There was a blue butterfly painted
And each morning we tried who should reach the
butterfly first.
Then the Grandmother said: "Do not eat the poor
butterfly."
That made us laugh.
Always she said it and always it started us laughing.
It seemed such a sweet little joke.
I was certain that one fine morning
The butterfly would fly out of our plates,
Laughing the teeniest laugh in the world,
And perch on the Grandmother's lap.

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.