Hours old,
the luna moth’s wings still look
as if they don’t fit.
*
Full moon.
The starving kitten
cries for milk.
*
At school,
the squire’s moon-faced daughter
was one of many Emilys.
*
Forty years on,
I remember that new-book smell:
You Will Go To The Moon.
*
Entering a patch of moonlight
in the forest,
my sudden boots.
Print
I'm Dave Bonta, a poet and literary magazine editor from the eastern edge of western Pennsylvania. For background on the site, see the About page. For more about me, see my Google profile.
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Sharp, clear and punchy as ever, Dave. Great pic too.
The last is my favorite.
Never in my life thought of the adjective ‘sudden” to describe “boots” but of course it works. Great!
Love this, Dave, pic and poem, no matter which.
Very nice. All of them, together.
I love your poems, they make me smile…lovely photos as well!
Chris
Glorious Luna moth! And I especially like the fourth haiku. It reminds me of the old children’s books about the moon and space exploration that I used to read when I was a kid.
Funny how each has a favorite.
I adore the second. Simply perfect. As it turns out, I was looking at the moon last night, and I couldn’t come up with anything interesting to say about it. But you have, here.
I like all of these quite a bit. I saw a huge lunar moth myself this past Sunday evening, on the edge of the forest near a labyrinth just after dusk. The light was dark green and wouldn’t yield a good photograph to me. I had thought of writing something and may still…or not…this is wonderful. I love the sudden boots especially but also the starving kitten.
Yes, ‘simply perfect’.
Hi everyone – Thanks for all the generous words. These were a little on the experimental side, and were written much too quickly, so I’m glad several of them made a hit.
I’m with Lucas in liking the second best, but it’s that perfect, luminous green at the top that really catches my eye. All these years I’ve been struggling to put a name to the color I keep painting my walls; now I can call it luna-moth green.
It certainly is a pleasing color, isn’t it?
I love this poem very much! I am a new reader and enjoy your blog. :-)
Welcome!
Wonderful moon poems, Dave. And, love that picture. Hope all is well.
Thanks, Michelle.
Sheesh, you can tell how absent I’ve been by the fact that I didn’t comment immediately on this one. Gorgeous photo of my favorite moth, and terrific poems. (I like the Emilys.)
Thanks! Glad you liked the Emilys one. Writing a haiku about something historical, not directly experienced (except through the medium of a live play) felt a little weird.
[...] I was taking the garbage to the compost pile one evening after supper when I spotted this luna moth on one of the big black walnut trees in front of the main house. Its wings were still damp; it hadn’t been out of the chrysalis for very long. Somehow in looking at the green wings one notices the green and blue lichens on the tree bark, as well. Impossible not to wax poetic. [...]
[...] on the side of a black walnut tree in the yard. It was just one tree over and one day later than last year’s luna moth. As I watched with a flashlight, a harvestman gangled up with the small, lifeless body of a spider [...]