Moth Surprise [15 Words or Less]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. 

Photo: Laura P. Salas

This pink underwing moth (I think?) lay dead on our front porch a couple of weeks ago :>(

This image makes me think of several things:

  1. wearing my bathing suit under my clothes on days I was going to the beach or pool after school
  2. the Northern Lights
  3. kabuki theater

And here’s my first draft, inspired by stories my dad has told in recent years about his career as a NASA engineer (and before NASA, working on projects for the military).

It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS — that is the only rule! (Title doesn’t count toward word count.)

 

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15 Responses

  1. Yes, this is one of many underwing moths that are flitting around out there. You might think they’re plain, but they surprise you with a bit of drama.

    Hope For a Neighbor

    She was grim,
    without a smile,
    but once she pet
    my cat a while.

    1. Ah, the great “pet the dog” moment they talk about in screenplay writing, where the villain shows his or her kind side by being nice to a pet or child or something. I like the kid voice here…kind of blase, but also recognizing that someone who pets a cat can’t be all bad!

  2. Using the #inktober word for today, pattern

    Wings of lace
    Pattern of grace
    Eyes on space

  3. Love “Grandpa’s younger eyes.” As great-grandparents, my husband and I often think of how our little ones would react to events in our past. I suppose my older eyes prompted my verse! lol

    Summer Days of Yore

    The folded fan
    unfurls
    swishes to and fro
    cools the genteel lady
    as she “glistens.”

    1. Hahaha–that does capture a certain southern charm! I’m glistening on a stationary bike right now, and I could use a fan!

  4. poem By Jessica Bigi

    Fall

    Moon ‑burst wings flutter

    lamp-glow windows

    October

    1. The implied contrast to today makes me kind of sad. But it also brought back lovely memories for me of my own childhood!

  5. Decided to use all I saw and make a haiku of sorts…

    A Moth is Like a:

    pink fan unfolding
    first act curtain opening
    peek-a-boo baby

    by Donna JT Smith©2019

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