Atlas Moth
David B. Prather
              —Attacus atlas

Nebula on the wing, heavy
              upon the shoulder, I would trust
this moth to carry the heavens,
              take that infinite encumbrance.
Keeping the balance, the gravity
              between bodies, the ever-expanding
darkness connecting us—this is why
              a titan flies at night, unsteady,
guided by the ancient threads of starlight.
                            I wonder what this creature must have
done to deserve such punishment,
                            an edict of the gods. My back
is already broken, my mind
                            already tender. I think I may be
in a larval stage, eating
                                          as much of the world as I can,
readying myself for a glorious change.

I’ve been waiting so long to become
                                          something else. Some days,
I push my hands into the heavy earth
                            to get a sense of what it will mean
to lift this burden. Will I have to
                            push it up against a tree to hoist it
across the nape of my neck?
                            Will I have coppery, sunset-tinted wings
to wrangle all this weight, to bear
              my share of the cosmos? Will I fly
at night with my brethren,
              raising our bodies up through dusk?
Even the moon, deceiver that it is,
              can lead us astray. The candlelight of the galaxy
is all the illumination we need,
              these moths admonished with a name, a god
hunched over, all the firmament upon his back.

---

David B. Prather’s Comments

That Atlas moth, a large splendor in the insect world, reminded me, obviously, of Atlas, the Titan who was condemned to hold up the heavens for all eternity. This poem is, in some small way, my homage to the memory of ancient gods and to this moth, which, like most insects, helps to support its part of the environment. It is one of the many insects we must protect if we are to avoid ecological disaster.

Table of Contents