by Miroslav Holub
i>(Posted July 11, 1997 ? Issue 12; archived July 25, 1997)The moth
having left its pupa
in the galaxy of flour grains
and pots of rancid
drippings,
the moth
discovers in this
topical darkness
that it's a kind of butterfly
but
it can't believe it,
it can't believe it,
it can't believe
that it's a tiny,
flying, relatively
free moth
and it wants to go back,
but there's no way.
Freedom makes
the moth tremble
forever, that is,
twenty-two hours.
Miroslav Holub is a Czech immunologist and poet who has published 20 collections of poetry and essays. His work has been widely translated, although for years his books were banned in his homeland. This poem is from Intensive Care, published by Oberlin College Press in 1996; it can be purchased on-line from Amazon.com ($15.95). Another volume of his poetry, Interferon, or On Theater, can be purchased directly from the Oberlin College Press ($4.95; phone 1 (216) 775-8408).