Endless Lawn VI

Art by jungabeast (You can buy this sticker! Pretty cool!)

Here’s a poem that I probably should have released last week, since it was Moth Week. Moth Week was July 17th-25th this year (2021). This poem is a little long. Maybe it could use some trimming. Here it is in its original, rambling format:

Until Yesterday

-or-

Moth Week

A strange beetle

landed on a swath of grass

that I’d just mown.

It was strange to me

because I’d never seen one

like that before.

Seeing this bug brought back to my mind

the fact that it’s moth week.

I’d never heard of moth week

until yesterday.
The National Park Service

informed me of the celebration.

I like the idea of giving

these critters some time

in the spotlight.

Almost as much

as they do.

But I wouldn’t have

always felt this way.

When I was a boy

we didn’t have AC

in our home.

So, one night,

before heading out to dinner

with my parents,

my window was

open to the night.

It was summer.

Might have even been

one of the dates

now dedicated

to Moth Week.

When we returned

to the little house

on Worley Road,

my father unlocked the door.

I walked down the hall

toward my room,

while my parents

talked in the kitchen.

I flipped the switch.

I couldn’t breathe.

They were everywhere.
My little boy’s brain

had never born witness

to so many insects.

All over the walls.

All over the ceiling.

The open window

was some crazy portal.

They rested there, uninterested.

But in my mind,

they would fall upon me

at any second.

Their tiny mouths,

full of monster’s teeth,

would grind me to dust

before my father

finished his cigarette.

That’s how little boys’ brains work.

Some of them anyway.

I carried a fear of moths with me

for a long time.

I’ve worked through it.

Now, I welcome them

to dance on my arms

with their little hairy feet.

Now I marvel

at their superhero physiques,

their exquisite antennae and wings.

Enjoy Moth Week!

Dont forget to turn on your love lamp.

T. Evans 7/21