The red bottle

19
Written by Catherin J Pascal Dunk

After William Carlos Williams

So much depends
upon

a red bottle
brush

plastered with bogong
moths

beside the blue
road

Bogong moth on red bottlebrush Callistemon citrinus.
Photo by Catherin J Pascal Dunk 2026.
Just a few of the moths out last night.
Video by Catherin J Pascal Dunk 2026.

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.

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19 Comments

      1. Me too! I was thinking of doing a paint by numbers using a photograph of a moment of pure bliss. Me riding through one of those trees and the bogongs going bananas is that moment.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. They always use this poem in poetry classes in English, because it is has interesting line breaks. For my poem, I tried to trick the reader into thinking it was about a bottle, when it was actually about moths in a tree…

        Liked by 1 person

      7. That sounds really interesting. It’s a way to trick the reader into thinking it was about one thing when it’s another thing. While I was reading, I thought it was about the bottle… You did really well! ☺️

        Liked by 1 person

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