Very Large Moth

After D.H.L. 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