Moths: Masters of Camouflage and Mimicry (Part 1)

Dr Abe V Rotor  

Art of Camouflage 

Your artful disguise 

makes you invisible and free;  

Nature's given prize
of camouflage and mimicry.

Kite Moth

It is not only that birds follow the sun

that the sky is filled with colors and laughter;

it is your body symmetry copied for fun,

that children believe they own the sky

and make imagination their best teacher,

even in their dreams to fly.

STOL Moth

If your wings are for short takeoff and speed,

and your long antennae and infrared eyes 

defy the darkness of night, then I believe

someone has copied you in steel that flies. 

Jade Moth

If I freeze your beauty

and wear it on my heart,

I rob Nature, her grace apart; 

a star dies, so with art.

False Eyes

Whose eyes these are, real or just mask?

Why grotesque and cold, the children ask?

Unmoved, you simply sleep and wait 'til dawn,

and they ask again if they were your own.  

Stealth Moth

Man copied you but for another purpose;

peace and quiet you live, his intent is not,

but to rule the sky fiery by day and night; 

cheer up, for imitation will never be right.  

Falcon Moth

You are on the ceiling all alone

and the toad looking up

thinks of you a falcon;

in make-believe it's good to be up

with reverse role as predator;

everything's prey on the floor. 

Footprint Moth

If these two sets of footprints

lead to opposite directions, 

did you depart when  I needed you most?

What goodness did I lack?

"My child, you were alone 

and lost and I brought you back."

Hidden Mirror on the Wall

No, it's not Paleolithic painting,

but hidden mirror on the wall:

Bless you creature in slumber waiting 

the light of the world to fall,

then seek a beacon in the night

where a pen draws its might.

Atlas Moth

Thought you could put one on Hercules,*

from the burden of the world you're free; 

so thought too, the dinosaurs in spree;

bigness is no guarantee no less;

birds fly on wings and hollow bones,

flies need not four wings but two,

none but the water strider glides best - 

be humble, bigness is weakness, too.  

* In Greek mythology, Atlas played trick on Hercules to take 

over him carry the globe; but Hercules was smarter, 

and the task fell back on poor Atlas.