"Five Moths" by Carly Joy Miller

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend March 6, 2019   Five Moths   Carly Joy Miller

Moons on the upper visual field. I replay many springs                                         for their ripening                                       heat. Five limb in                                                                              me: Ornate, Greased,                                                                            Codling, Luna, Death's-head.                                                     Two supernatural, three                                                   balance need. I feed on fat                                                                                         apples, pears: Tunnel                                                                                       toward center, a heaven                                                               in the core. Instinct                                                             attempts to correct                                          with a turn                                        toward light.                          My dress                        a brief                                       darkness. Flits                                     there. Another set                                                                            of wings to tear.                                                                          Spiral me in the silk                                                                                        of my tongue. Farm                                                                                      what is economical                                                                in me: Blood for blood,                                                              heart for snare.                                                                             Scent, sweet                                                                           air: My cedar,                                                   hung juniper, lavender                                                 cross: What holds the body                            keeps the body blesses the body's                          lack.                                                   Is that not a blessing?                                                 What blooms in me:                                      Trouble. Trouble.                                    Trouble.               So I consume. So I feed             what festers.    When navigating artificial  light, the angle changes                            noticeably. Angle strict, beloved:                          My head a mess of moon.            Copyright © 2019 Carly Joy Miller. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   "I've embraced that I'm working toward a poetics of desire, and desire bears obsession. When an animal comes into my sight, I obsess: What is it about this particular beast, and how can I make it mine? There is a belief that we'll meet five soulmates in our lifetime. I (figuratively, of course) placed five moths in my body to discover how their instincts play into mine." —Carly Joy Miller   Carly Joy Miller is the author of Ceremonial (Orison Books, 2018), selected by Carl Phillips as the winner of the Orison Prize for Poetry. The co-director of the Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program and a content manager for a search engine optimization company, she lives in New York City. Poetry by Miller   Ceremonial (Orison Books, 2018) "'from The Sky Forever' [reenact reincarnate the earthquake]" by Kimberly Alidio "Center of the World" by Safiya Sinclair "Toward the Island" by Pablo Medina March Guest Editor: Maggie Smith   Thanks to Maggie Smith, author of Good Bones (Tupelo Press, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Smith about her curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038

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