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September 8, 2016

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Photography, Poetry

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To a Winged Moth

IMG_4444

Moving between worlds,
egg to leaf,
leaf to stone,
stone to leaf,
leaf to tree,
caterpillar to cocoon.
In stillness,
bound within
her own web, she
quietly transforms.
To a winged moth.
She will fly through
twilight,
through darkness,
singing her wings
on porch lights.
If I bind myself
closely with my own web,
will I transform
into a winged being,
fluttering toward the light?

Copyright 2016 Brenda Davis Harsham

Notes:

Happy Poetry Friday! Thanks to Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at the Poem Farm for hosting. Pop over for a poetry party.

poetry friday button

Yesterday, I read Cool Melons — Turn to Frogs! The Life and Poems of Issa, a picture book of haiku, biography, nature and magic by Matthew Gollub. It’s beautifully illustrated by Kazuko G. Stone. In the book, Issa learns that he can speak the things inside him through haiku. The important part is learning to speak what’s inside you.

Can a web of words transform a person?

If you are interested in what others have written of moths, here are two: Moth Moon and Luna Moth.

 

Can anyone identify my little caterpillar? I think she’s a moth, but I was unable to figure out what kind. She was about three inches long. I imagine she’s flying by now.

47 thoughts on “To a Winged Moth”

  4. I love how nature can bring up questions inside ourselves, about so many aspects of life. This is lovely. Those first several lines, the way they go back and forth, leading us in and in, are fabulous! x

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  11. Ending this lovely poem with your question is perfect, Brenda! I have no idea what that caterpillar is but I can understand why you were “oohing and aahing” over it with your son. I found a crazy looking new-to-me caterpillar in the milkweed last weekend. I wish I could figure out how to attach a picture to this comment and see if you could id it for me!

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  14. My daughter and I talk about amazing insects so often. Really, it just comes up! And one miracle if that transformation of which you just described. Is it a teen’s voice? I’m not sure, but I read it several times Brenda, enjoyed every part, and that picture, too.

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    • My son and I oohed and aahed over that caterpillar. I really wish I could have identified it. That’s half the fun of being a naturalist. I was hoping it was a luna moth, but those caterpillars look different. Oh, well. Perhaps one of my blogging friends will know.

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