I was in Sa Pa (mountains of northern Vietnam) two days ago when I had  emails from Maggie Emmett of Friendly Street & Julie Walker of RiAus to say that my poem Moths and butterflies had been chosen as a finalist in the RiAus Science Poetry Competition and featured as FS Poem of the Month for November.

Strangely, the day before we’d been on a hike to the Black Hmong village of Cat Cat where we’d seen  multitudes of unfamiliar butterflies…

The poem first appeared in my collection micromacro in 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

Moths and Butterflies

moths

go about their work

stoically in grey suits

or grimy blue overalls

pollinating flowers

feed birds and frogs

need fur coats for warmth

working the graveyard shift

 

 

Butterflies are showy socialites

sipping nectar at

A-list cocktail parties

All show, no substance,

superficial in their beauty

mwah-mwahing insincere air kisses

to the Beautiful Pupae.

 

 

Moths are the working class

 

waiting for the revolution.

 

 

© Rob Walker 2006