Want Moths

It’s a favorite trope of poets

And better mortals—the moth drawn

To the flame. You’ll encounter it

In texts, old and new, East and West.

The moth is anyone or thing

Doomed by its foolish desire,

But most often it’s a stand-in

For the composer of the trope

Who is sometimes confused between

Self and the words themselves—these words,

Drawn stupid, stunned, to a candle

And eagerly beating their wings.

O, note to all our composers—

A trope’s a candle; words are ash.