Sphinx-Moth Poem by Mark. A Heathcote

Insects such as the nocturnal sphinx moth
Pollinate these flowers, these stars.
What are we if not nocturnal flowers?
Ourselves in our lunar cycles
We are the Night Bloom Water Lilies.
The Night Gladiolus, Moon Flowers,
A naked man, a sitting figure, hands on head.
The body leaned forward, feet together.
Legs outstretched. Elbows on knees
Where the shadows fall, we now see
Eye sockets and an open jaw.
He looks, for the world, like a skull.
When pictured, moonlight is lit from above.
But he, too, is just a flower in need of love.
He, too, is a nocturnal sphinx moth.
Waiting to pollinate his nocturnal flowers.