"...Every Morn and every Night
Some are Born to sweet delight.
Some are Born to sweet delight
Some are Born to endless Night..."
~ Augeries of Innocence, William Blake
The Luna Moth Dress
In my apple green dress
with my faceted eyes
black as the breeze
from hell's back door
I flutter around
where the blue shadows play,
where my velvet arms
drop the face of the light
deep in a focus
on one bright flame,
no last sweet sip
of the moonflower's wine.
My cheap insect mask
frightens the child.
Dogs bark as I walk
on the edges of bricks
but in my luna moth dress
soft eyebrows all feathers,
I know I'll soon fly on
the breath floating the sky,
welcome at last
in the green wood of life
one with the Fae, one
with the lark, a thing with
a place, a peace, a time,
a laugh
full of giving past
the slow dance of moon,
free from this exile
in endless Night.
September 2021
posted for Open Link Night
at dVerse Poets
Note: Luna moths (Actias luna) live 7-10 days and are nocturnal. Adults have no functional mouthparts and live on energy stored as caterpillars.
Images: Luna-moth © sunelixir All Rights Reserved Fair Use
Luna Moth © Jessica Mahan All Rights Reserved Fair Use
Great inspiration to take from William Blake and you certainly do it justice here with this vivid and strongly felt piece... Bravo!
ReplyDeleteOh it 'tis an exile, this mortal bourne, blind and kneecapped with only one good finger to press the big red button. I love the dancing fey, she illumines no further than the hedge and intends no malice -- just dances in the moonlight. Where we all belong when the coiling's done ... Makes me happy. - B
ReplyDeleteA fae and a lark has got to be good! That moth dress is so mysterious.
ReplyDeleteI associate green apples with the white apple blossoms of spring--maybe I saw a Magritte with both at once?--and also their tartness, which this poem has. I love that the dogs and children only see the speaker's outer form, but the celestial bodies welcome and beckon. The apple green dress is also a perfect rendering of the changed caterpillar, now finding itself with wings for its brief flight, and also as a metaphor for the changed person awaiting hers. It's just lovely, and haunting, dear J.
ReplyDeletePS--when, as a teenager, I heard Jim Morrison sing the lines in your opening quote (except for a changed first line) I didn't realize that it was actually Blake. I think it's very cool that it is.
ReplyDeleteSo much to love in the perspective writing from the moth. The apple green dress and the fairy reference made me think of the absinth drinking artists of late 19th century Paris.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely gorgeous Joy and I feel as if I have been gifted a rare and fleeting glimpse of the life of a Luna moth.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful writing, especially the imagery
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love the transformative aspect of the green dress. She is allowed a rare glimpse of nirvana just before the end. Maybe it is but a glimpse of where she's headed next... Potent poetry and the images you chose are otherworldly in their beauty. The top one looks like she's flitting over ginkgo leaves.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to live the life cycle of the luna moth! Love the introduction from Blake also :-)
ReplyDeleteYou have written a magical piece of poetry. So much to live in such a short time.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is beautiful, hedgewitch. I love the description of this magic dress worn by an eerie woman that goes out for a night walk and accidentally frightens the children she passes 😊 It gave me Halloween vibes 💛
ReplyDeleteEnchanting write - the Blake quote is perfect.
ReplyDeleteThis is exquisitely drawn! I especially like; "I know I'll soon fly on the breath floating the sky, welcome at last in the green wood of life."💝💝
ReplyDeleteThat lunar moth dress is resonating in my minds eye......
ReplyDeletesublime.
ReplyDeletethe closing couplet of the first verse is quite literally giving me chills, and the closing verse - you remind me of why I read poetry. For this. ~