poetry corner:

apparatus

two moths pitched on the white
of a page left under lamplight,
sleek and symmetrical
in the margins of the text
like components of some apparatus
ancient and esoteric as poetry,
stilled antennae and the long
dusk-coloured cloak of wings,
both so watchful they seem
almost inanimate

touch the paper and they're up
storming the bare light,
nearly translucent against the glass
and fierce
fierce

michael crummey