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The Morning Porch

Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

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moths

June 12, 2012 by Dave Bonta

An indigo bunting lands on a grass stalk and sinks from view. A white moth on a white column trembles for an instant when the rain returns.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags indigo bunting, moths, rain 1 Comment
April 15, 2012April 15, 2012 by Dave Bonta

Breezy and cool. Small white moths—or are they flower petals?—flutter against the grey sky. A field sparrow’s ascending notes.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags field sparrow, moths 2 Comments
September 9, 2011 by Dave Bonta

A mottle-winged moth flops like a fish across the floor. A mosquito tries to drill through denim, her hind-most legs like levers going up.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags mosquito, moths 2 Comments
September 10, 2010 by Dave Bonta

The corpse of a moth flaps upside-down against the column. Beyond the springhouse, a broken branch dangles—the leaves’ pale undersides.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags black locust, moths, springhouse
August 1, 2010 by Dave Bonta

Like a maple key out of season, but far lighter, it spirals ever so slowly down onto the porch floor: a small white moth’s hind wing.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags moths
September 12, 2025June 19, 2009 by Dave Bonta

Another dark morning. The wood pewee makes a rare visit to the edge of the yard, sings one, sad note, and snaps a brown moth out of the air.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags eastern wood pewee, moths 1 Comment
May 23, 2009 by Dave Bonta

The lilacs are fading fast. Where did the spring go? A hummingbird moth pays court to the dame’s-rockets—the new avatars of purple scent.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags dame's-rocket, hummingbird sphinx moth, lilac, moths

Sunrise. A white moth and a white…

April 26, 2009 by Dave Bonta

Sunrise. A white moth and a white butterfly flit between the cherry blossoms, and at the edge of the woods, the shadblow is in full bloom.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags moths, sunrise

5:00 am; the stars are bright….

August 31, 2008 by Dave Bonta

5:00 am; the stars are bright. Orion straddles the ridge, and as I watch, a meteor streaks from his belt. A small, dark moth circles my face.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags moths, Orion
June 17, 2008 by Dave Bonta

A catbird solos in the half-light while wood thrushes trade lines. Small white moths visit the dame’s-rocket. Today, a funeral and a picnic.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags catbird, dame's-rocket, moths, wood thrush
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On This Day

  • January 12, 2025
    Not far below freezing. The sun appears through a keyhole in the clouds. A gray squirrel reaches into the snow and extracts a black walnut.
  • January 12, 2024
    The Carolina wren who sleeps above my laundry-room door forms a one-bird cheering section for the sunrise. Then the cloud-lid closes, and only the creek…
  • January 12, 2023
    Fog prolongs the dawn well past sunrise. How long will squirrels keep scolding after a cat has slunk away? Ten minutes and counting.
  • January 12, 2021
    A mixed flock of winter birds flitting though the yard. The mockingbird comes flying over the house and joins them at a half-frozen seep.
  • January 12, 2020
    A yellow gash appears in the clouds to the east and heals up again. The cardinal attacks his reflection. Military jets howl over, unseen.

See all...

Related book

Cover of Ice Mountain with a linocut of a big ridgetop tree.

What I do after I sit on the porch. One winter and spring's daily walks distilled into short poems with linocut illustrations by Beth Adams.

Header image: detail from Paper Garden by Clive Hicks-Jenkins (used by permission)

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