The red bottle

After William Carlos Williams

So much depends
upon

a red bottle
brush

plastered with bogong
moths

beside the blue
road

This is what depends upon it:

“Each spring, Endangered Bogong Moths make an epic migration of up to 1,000 km to Australia’s alpine zone. Meanwhile, Critically Endangered Mountain Pygmy-possums wake up from hibernating under the snow, hungry for the nutritious Bogong Moths to eat.

Bogong Moths used to fly to the possums’ mountain home in the billions, but their numbers have significantly decreased over recent years. This now means these marvellous moths are in peril, and there may not be enough food for these tiny possums to raise their young.”

zoo.org.au

Seen a bogong moth or twenty? Report your sighting at:
https://www.zoo.org.au/moth-tracker

I first shared this poem at Coastal Poets Live’s October 2026 event at Funhaus Factory Gosford.