Black moths, white fear

                                                     Carlos Amorales

We are drawn to the light
to soothe our coal-inked wings
singed by fumes & polluted air
we inhale heat behind walls

to soothe our coal-inked wings
and lighten talons of fear
staking our ebony chests

singed by fumes & polluted air
we swarm as clouds, our bodies 
hovering dry-pitted earth

we inhale heat behind walls
to garnish our lithium eyes
long blinded by chemical dust



Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Trimeric form hosted by Mary ~  Thanks for the visit ~

Notes of this art installation:   Black Cloud can be understood as a cautionary tale if we go back to the years of the British Industrial Revolution in the mid-nineteenth century, when the grizzly environment, tinged by coal combustion, originated a natural selection of black moths in the cities. The typical moth in England prior to the Industrial Revolution was the dominant light-coloured form which made it very difficult for birds and other predators to see it against light-coloured trees and clean walls. The coal that was burned as industry spread throughout the north of England blanketed the countryside with black soot and a new dark form of moth emerged. It appeared suddenly, came to dominate the population in industrial areas, and then declined just as sharply following the closure of coal mines and many industrial centres. Pollution levels dropped, clean air laws were introduced, and the sootiness that prevailed during the nineteenth century disappeared from the cities. Dramatically, as the cleaner, lighter conditions returned, so did the lighter form of the moth. Some biologists suggest that the dark moths will soon be extinct.