THE MONARCHS: 44

ALISON HAWTHORNE DEMING

image

Night. A woman betrayed.

Insects gather

on the cabin window

so that all she can see

is a plague of gray moths.

She’s sick of the body’s

dumb song, the frenzy

of insects for light.

Why does a moth do that

if it’s nocturnal?

If it woke up in the daytime,

it could simply

have what it wants.