Very Large Moth--CRAIG ARNOLD

Your first thought when the light snaps on and the black wings clatter about the kitchen is a bat the clear part of your mind considers rabies the other part does not consider knows only to startle and cower away from the slap of its wings though it is soon clearly not a bat but a moth and harmless still you are shy of it it clings to the hood of the stove not black but brown its orange eyes sparkle like televisions its leg joints are large enough to count how could you kill it where would you hide the body a creature so solid must have room for a soul and if this is so why not in a creature half its size or half its size again and so on down to the ants clearly it must be saved caught in a shopping bag and rushed to the front door afraid to crush it feeling the plastic rattle loosened into the night air it batters the porch light throwing fitful shadows around the landing That was a really big moth is all you can say to the doorman who has watched your whole performance with a smile the half-compassion and half-horror we feel for the creatures we want not to hurt and prefer not to touch