Three new poems about moths
and one that inspired Birtwistle
To celebrate Moth Night, NATURAL LIGHT asked three poets to write something for these pages.
Matt Howard
Nettle-tap
Matt Howard lives in Norwich, where he works for the RSPB. His poems have appeared in several magazines including Stand, The Rialto and Resurgence. His debut pamphlet will be published by Eyewear later in 2014. Matt is on the steering group of New Networks for Nature, a broad alliance of creators (including poets, authors, scientists, film makers, visual artists, environmentalists, musicians and composers) whose work draws strongly on the natural environment
Nettle-tap
Come with me, now that May
has gone from the hedges
and this season of weddings is past,
flitted into fine moth-hours
of such short, humid nights.
I’ll show you two day-flyers,
settled in the cool of a nettle patch,
big and nicked as the nail on your ring finger;
duskier confetti; unfolded notes for robin song,
in cop, each the other’s half of one diamond.
has gone from the hedges
and this season of weddings is past,
flitted into fine moth-hours
of such short, humid nights.
I’ll show you two day-flyers,
settled in the cool of a nettle patch,
big and nicked as the nail on your ring finger;
duskier confetti; unfolded notes for robin song,
in cop, each the other’s half of one diamond.
Rosie Evison
Moths
After retiring from a civilian role in the Royal Navy Rosie started working as a volunteer at the RSPB Titchwell reserve in 2009. She and her husband Roger became recorders for Norfolk Moths after moving to the county and developing a fascination for wildlife, moths and birds in particular. Their claim to fame is finding Pammene giganteana (Early Oak Piercer), the first in Norfolk since 1899. Rosie spends what remains of her spare time studying creative writing.
Shadowy dancers round fragrant bushes.
They do not flirt with sun warmed flowers,
in thrall to nectar.
Flying on moonlit, still, soft nights,
dipping and fluttering while we dream.
A secret world
of Pink Hawks, Old Ladies, Flying Carpets,
Cinnabars, Gold Swifts and Burnished Brass.
Nocturnal beauties.
Oak Beauty
photo © Rosie Evison
They do not flirt with sun warmed flowers,
in thrall to nectar.
Flying on moonlit, still, soft nights,
dipping and fluttering while we dream.
A secret world
of Pink Hawks, Old Ladies, Flying Carpets,
Cinnabars, Gold Swifts and Burnished Brass.
Nocturnal beauties.
Oak Beauty
photo © Rosie Evison
Laurence Rose editor of NATURAL LIGHT
Names of Moths that Probably Don't Exist
Crown and Anchor, Pebbled Ash, The Drunkard
Queen of the South
Dusty Carpet, Plat du Jour
Rusty Nail
The Knocker-upper, Lace Curtain, The Fruiterer
Thought for the Day
Spangled Banner, Variable Shag
Tangled Web
Migrant Worker, Painted Snipe, The Nonchalant
Hair of the Dog
Honest Broker, Norfolk Incense
Amethyst Deceiver
The Duke of Cumberland’s Postilion, The Florin
Fog on the Tyne
Herald Angel, Brindled Snuff
The Ephemerald.
Queen of the South
Dusty Carpet, Plat du Jour
Rusty Nail
The Knocker-upper, Lace Curtain, The Fruiterer
Thought for the Day
Spangled Banner, Variable Shag
Tangled Web
Migrant Worker, Painted Snipe, The Nonchalant
Hair of the Dog
Honest Broker, Norfolk Incense
Amethyst Deceiver
The Duke of Cumberland’s Postilion, The Florin
Fog on the Tyne
Herald Angel, Brindled Snuff
The Ephemerald.
Robin Blaser (1925-2009)
The Moth Poem
The Moth Poem
Robin Blaser was born in Denver, Colorado and moved to Vancouver in 1965, the year after he wrote The Moth Poem.
He collaborated with featured composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle, writing the libretto to Birtwistle's opera The Last Supper. After Blaser's death in 2009, Birtwistle used passages from The Moth Poem in his Moth Requiem, featured on our music pages.
Click to hear Robin Blaser reading his The Moth Poem in Vancouver in 1965.
