LANTERNFLY AUGUST GHAZAL 

The sun was made of metal or paper last night. 
I missed my old trees when the wind blew last night. 

Five lanternflies are enough to make a mobile. 
Danced over the softest crib last night. 

Discovering my heart was made of folded paper, 
I jumped into the forest fire last night. 

We used to own the language of roots 
but then moths seized the tongue last night. 

Becoming useful is only a process of release. 
What kind of pilgrims were we last night? 

A sea turned inside out is not a paragraph. 
It is a suitable clause. Take me back to last night. 

Fleas arrived in bundles. Told us to give in 
and arrive as more certain vermin. We died last night. 

Taking a page from a bible, the goblins made us 
by the glow of moon jellies last night. 

Do you know what it means to be glorious in a way 
even God doesn't see? We laughed at him all night. 

Gathering like puppeteers, we moved our own bodies. 
Called ourselves lanternfly, lanternfly but only last night. 




MEDICINAL USES OF THE LANTERNFLY 

1. 
When re-learning red 
I asked you to open your wings. 
Took polaroid snap-shots of each beat. 

2. 
To ease swelling. 

3. 
Poisonous when swallowed. 
A bowl of lanternflies 
and a golden fork. 

4. 
Cure for nostalgia.  
A reminder the world I held 
in my softest hands 
is no longer vivid. 

5. 
When struggling to sleep, 
several lanternflies in a jar 
can help keep you company 
while you wither the moon. 

6.
An aphrodisiac can be anything 
you find beautiful. Do you find 
the lanternfly beautiful? 
Do you believe in healing? 

7.
Swallow a lanternfly whole
to relieve the sense of dread 
that creeps in each dusk. 

8.
Also great as a muscle relaxer. 
Let the lanternflies transverse 
your skin. Ask them to teach you 
how to glow. 

9. 
To accept the color of the sky. 

10. 
For fruitful legs. 

11. 
Last and most importantly, 
the lanternfly's soul can be purposed 
for growing dark wood trees 
to fill any room. 

Robin Gow is an autistic trans poet and YA / Middle-Grade author from rural Pennsylvania. They are the author of several poetry books, an essay collection, a YA novel in verse, A Million Quiet Revolutions (FSG Books for Young Readers, 2022), and a forthcoming Middle-Grade novel, Dear Mothman (Abrams Books 2023). Gow’s poetry has recently been published in POETRY, Southampton Review, and Yemassee.