Moth-er

When she comes
home like this, like some
gray moth that
flitters under the spill of
yellow light, her fluttering
image hurled onto the walls

She is suddenly transformed into
a creature so unpredictable --
-- so menacing that
me, being the weak and
helpless and starving
gecko I am, had better
unsuck my toes from the
ceiling and skitter into
the shadows.