Monday, August 17, 2020

Garden Tiger

Garden Tiger flying into human house,
From a soft black autumn night
Black and white patterns over orange underwing
A nonstop midnight moth
Addicted to light
Circles round the room
A tiny kamikaze plane
Dives headlong at the table lamp
Again, and again
Drawn to its own destruction
Headbutting a hot bulb
Flops back exhausted
Fluttering wings, waving limbs
Compelled by incandescence
It can’t stop itself
Drunk on this false sun
It rises up once more
And makes another flight to doom
I was happy to see its beauty
In this lonely room
But I’ve no wish to be
Witness to suicide
So, I catch it in a beer glass
Bless it and throw it
Out of my window
Back home to the night.

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