Bogong Moth by Joe Dolce

A Bogong moth

darts out of
darkness
to seize fire -
it’s burned away its tarsi,
yet
continues to swoop,
kiss, careen, sizzle,
fluttering and
candle-banging
like fawn-crazed Nijinski.



I look up from my book

accepting the
immortal,
fatal dance
of life and light,
like Icarus’s
father
resigned to watch
his flying boy
hurl against
brilliance.



When you were a baby

night
crying,
often the