To a Luna Moth

Drawing and Poem by Ray Zimmerman.

This post is a preview of an upcoming poster.

To a Luna Moth

You flitted from a page in a book of poems.
pulled from my bookshelf one restless night. 
Dawn was nearer that sunset, but not by much. 

There you were, an apparition out of time 
with no summer warmth to fuel your flight
 but I remembered seeing you on summer nights. 

How alien you appear to my mind, 
with powdered wings to bear you aloft 
to heights that I will never reach.

Mouthless you left eating behind 
with that caterpillar skin you shed. 
Do you feel the pangs of hunger?

Those feather antennae direct your life. 
They detect the scent of a female 
a mile or more away, and off you go. 

You live a few brief days 
to leave a legacy of caterpillars. 
So alien, so beautiful, so human. 

The Chattanooga Audubon Society will hold the annual Folk and Fairies Festival with music, storytelling, crafts activities, and a celebration of the natural world, May24-26 at the Audubon Acres facility: https://www.chattanoogaaudubon.org/fairyandfolk.html.

The balance of this post, with photographs and haiku, is for paid subscribers.