Saturday, October 19, 2013

Moonflower & Moth









In a wildflower garden
there lived a cocooned creature
who hatched, grew tall,
and produced feet, 6 in all.


And wings,
oh such wings.
But who can fly
when you've only been taught to crawl?


The butterflies were beautiful,
floating from marigolds to phlox,
but she was no butterfly—
she’d heard them talk.


So she waited,
said creature,
for the last quarter moon,
and then whispered to it, “what must I do?”


The moon answered
with glitter and white
when on the moonflower
it shone its light—


she knew then she was made
just right;
some things are meant
to temper the night.



© 2013 Jennifer Wagner




At dVerse Poetics we are writing poems for kids.  I went with message and the natural world.  Moonflowers pop open at night and are pollinated by moths. 


24 comments:

Vandana Sharma said...

Such a beautiful poem. After all the moth knew its purpose:)

Namrata said...

Wow..so beautifully and cleverly you portrayed these inspirational words in there...there nothing in the world which doesn't have any worth..I feel everyone has it's importance here. :)

brudberg said...

what a wonderful poem .. it has a little bit touch of the ugly duckling.. anyone find their place of beauty .. even a moonflower moth :-)

Brian Miller said...

nice.....you take the natural world and make it magic...give explanation of the natural world that a kid would def come up with...i love butterflies to0, though it makes me sad the moth feels they must compare...but has its own specialness with the moon flowers...so can you tell me another....smiles.

Optimistic Existentialist said...

This is one of my favorites of yours...we can draw so many parallels from this to ourselves can't we?

Lisa A. Williams said...

Love this, Jennifer.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Lovely!

Ginny Brannan said...

Beautiful creatures, Luna moths. Have only seen one once, so large but so delicate, with almost luminescent wings. Really enjoyed your lovely story.

Anonymous said...

Oh I love this...the dialogue with the moon, and the very subtle lesson that we all have gifts within us that we may not recognize without a bit of encouragement.

Audrey Howitt aka Divalounger said...

Beautiful beautiful writing Jennifer!

Sherry Blue Sky said...

This has the most BEAUTIFUL message: "some things are meant to temper the night". WOW! LOVE it, Jennifer!

Anonymous said...

I am always thrilled to see the luna moths - very rare sight for us - loved the story with its perfect ending - K

Laura said...

Beautiful... we must be and love who we are... it takes time to grow into our fullness.

Wendy Bourke said...

Really exquisite - whimsical, yet profound.

RMP said...

positively lovely. it can be hard to find one's place and easy to dismiss one's worth. this piece has quite a lovely message.

Rajesh said...

These lines are very sensuous and ornate. Reminds me of good old world lines. I thank you on behalf of all moths in this universe ;)

Claudia said...

knowing to be just right...that means much for a kid and for each of us as well... this is a lovely story...

Anonymous said...

Jennifer - so luscious, grand, une esprit de lune, as it were. ~ M

yikici said...

This is so, so beautiful, I'm not a fan of moths, but with this poem, you have made me feel an empathy towards them, such a delicate and graceful write, truly beautiful. x

Anonymous said...

Ah super sweet-- such a lovely close especially--the word "tempered" is especially lovely here somehow. Thanks. k.

Anonymous said...

a beautiful piece and I learned a little something as well. thanks!

Justin Lamb said...

I really like the unforced rhyming. It's not cheesy or robotic. I find that difficult to do. Nice work!

janetld said...

Delightful and stirring - and I love the ending line.

Anonymous said...

I love this; beautifully written.