The Moth Poem
She sees the little lost one everywhere,
eyes on the dead moths curled on her windowsill.
I see what was:
rosy maple moths like Battenbergs
on her fingertips, A weaver’s wave moth
in the countryside the day she broke down and I wasn’t there.
Hummingbird moths, wings a soft heartbeat, small, too quick.
On her baby’s would-be anniversary
I remember when I couldn’t leave my house.
She crocheted gifts for Christmas, gave reminders to drink lemon water
and has never let me down. She’d stroke my hair
when I was broken hearted,
she knew what I needed. How, by living,
she wrote the best poems I’d ever seen.
How moth is half mother, a scar on her chest
She’s had as long as she can remember.
It makes me ache so much I want to cry.
And she’d be there for me if I did.
Years later, I still buy moth postcards,
trying to mend the hole nobody made
with moth shaped safety pins.
We can’t fix what we didn’t break.
All we have grieved follows us,
how two unwhole things are beautiful when loved.
Souls take many shapes, and what a privilege
for moths to be drawn to her.
We can choose to dance in the places we thought we’d die.
Tears condense, tealeaves in her too big mug,
stronger than a birthright, vivid as sunset.
Always a bold, strong, kind thing,
finding a way home: the moon
tucked in the left side of her chest
an arrhythmic beat that says
I can because I must
and because I must I will.
Kayleigh Jayshree is a poet and short story writer. She was IS&T’s July 2021 Pick of the Month and her poem was commended in the Young Poets Network ‘When a Friend Calls’ challenge. Kayleigh was a Member of the Roundhouse Collective, mentored by Cecilia Knapp and a 2021-2022 Apples & Snakes Writing Room Alumni taught by Dfiza Benson. She is a member of The Writing Squad and joined in 2020. Her poems have been published in The Cardiff Review, Butcher’s Dog, and Isele Magazine. The Moth Poem was previously commended in the Young Poets’ Network August Challenge. This video was filmed by Ianthe Warlow.
She is the current IS&T editing intern.