by Hannah Glogower

evolution

by Roddy Williams

the moths are back again
to surrender to the glory
of our light bulbs
which can be fatal.
we shut the windows
lock the doors
pull down the blinds
and still they spill in somehow
flapping happily to death.

we could turn the lights off
but then they gather on
the telly screen,
a silhouette of a stealth bomber party.
we keep capturing them
and sending them back to their own side
but they return with reinforcements.
‘it’s evolution’ I said.
‘the clever ones will learn to tell
our lights from the moon, and live.’
‘or,’ said barry, ‘the
stronger ones will learn to survive
the heat of the bulbs.
they will become impervious
and humans will be doomed.’
we sat in silence
held hands in the darkness
as the moths
settled over jeremy clarkson
as though they were eating his face.

About Roddy Williams

Roddy Williams lives and works in London. His poetry has recently appeared in The Rialto, Fourteen, South Poetry, Obsessed with Pipework, Smiths Knoll and other magazines. He is the author and illustrator of Nuns to be published shortly by Henry Books.