Eastern Tent Caterpillars Poem by Robert Ronnow

Mid-spring, skinny, black, blind
eastern tent caterpillars–-
Malacosoma americanum–-
falling from the cherry tree
leaning, human, over our deck.
Irksome. Mash and kick
them with my feet, continue
practicing or reading.

Three weeks later, reading
late at night. Heavy-bodied
black-eyed, reflexed antennae–
many hundreds of moths
crave the lamplight, some attaining
extinction through cracks
around the window screen. Vexing.
Until next morning, I look
up the name that has eluded me
all spring and early summer.

The single-minded moth and larval colony–-
one small monophony.