"Mythical Moth" by Lucy Saunders
Illustration by Alicia Hayden.
Mythical Moth
Clambering to reach moonlight the fastest, you dip, you dive, you fluster.
Beige flickers of beating wings amongst a powdered cluster.
You are a night butterfly, a castaway, dismissed.
But you have many wonders, a pollinating genius from which we can exist.
These little furry bodies of hope whisper as we sleep.
They are the ecosystem’s answer, bodies we need to keep.
Privet Hawks are a personal delight, as they sit on garden fences.
So brown and camouflaged they stay hidden, nature’s defences.
Then wings unfold and flight takes hold, you fly reaching for the stars.
It is time I catch a glimpse of those posey pinks and charred black bars.
Casting shadows in the trees you climb higher and higher.
What is this poem about?
Moths, like many pollinators, have been some of my favourite creatures to record and study. This year I am starting to look at these creatures more intensely in order to record them for ecological purposes. However, this doesn’t stop me wondering and writing creatively about their wonder.
Lucy Saunders
Lucy Saunders is an MA writing student best known for writing emotive nature pieces around specific wildlife species. Lucy has a keen interest in environmental concerns and how humans impact the land through agriculture and landscaping. Lucy has had work published in multiple independent publications along with her photographs and is working on her first selection of poems.
You can find her on Instagram @lucyjanesaunders .