By Paul Tran
Whether it’s true
that the moth mistakes the candle’s flame
for the moon or the bioluminescent
pheromones of another moth,
I can’t say.
I was the candle.
I was the flame
conceived in and by reason of
darkness, nibbling on a darkening wick.
When moth after moth after moth
swarmed me with their powdery wings,
I asked why.
I asked how.
I asked if
I could survive knowing
that not everything has a reason,
that not everything is capable
of or interested in reason.
Nothing answered.
Nothing spoke
my language of smoke.
Evermay 
Dear Emily,
My name is Tatiana and I am the volunteer coordinator at a nonprofit based in South Florida called Insight for the Blind.
We make specially formatted audiobooks in partnership with the Library of Congress and National Library Service, and will soon be having some of your poetry from the Poetry Foundation’s May 2021 issue read by one of our narrators.
We like to ensure that we pronounce names and such correctly, so I just wanted to verify how you pronounce your full name.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Sincerely,
Tatiana Galdamez.
LikeLike
Hi Tatiana! That is wonderful. If you would like me to read it, I’d be happy to!
My name is pronounced like this: Em-i-lee Gallagher Vile.
Best,
Emily
LikeLike
Dear Emily,
Thank you for your quick response!
While we would love to have you read your poem, we actually divide said poetry magazine into various sections, each of which requires one sole narrator to read multiple poems. We appreciate the offer nonetheless.
Best of luck with all of your future endeavors and thank you again!
Sincerely,
Tatiana Galdamez.
LikeLike