NaPoWriMo #16: Taking a Word for a Walk

This prompt at Readwritepoem asked us to take a single word and then consider its synonyms, antonyms and associations and see where it led us. I started with the word moth and took the idea of "association" rather loosely, associating by sound, meaning or just for no apparent reason, whatever popped up in my head. I filled about a page and a half and at first I thought I knew where I was heading, then all of a sudden the phrase "moth mannequin" (don't ask me where that came from!) took me in a totally unexpected direction.

This is really just a start but for almost the first time this month I have something that intrigues me enough to want to follow the idea further. (Not that I think this is better than my other efforts, just that it intrigues me more). And I found some very odd facts when checking out moth species in my insect book. For instance, the bag of the New Zealand native bag moth was used as a plectrum for playing the auto harp by early settlers. Who'd have thought it?

They are drawn like
B list movie stars
to gather under bright lights
where they swirl and flutter
waft softly in the evening mist
parading their new seasons dress
as they circulate on the night air's
imaginary catwalk
around the porch light.
This year brown is the new brown
but oh how many
subtle variations
-feathered, spotted, striped
-emperor moth, plume moth,
hawk moth, porina moth, bag moth,
they do not eat
they circle to the night's
slow tune, mistake the porch light
for the moon, and always there are two
or three who come too close
who crash and burn