{"id":7241,"date":"2026-02-04T17:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T17:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=7241"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:48:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T17:48:35","slug":"mothfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/arts\/2026\/02\/04\/mothfire\/","title":{"rendered":"Mothfire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mothfire<\/strong><\/p>\n

I like writing on paper. <\/span>
\n<\/span>This was once paper, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019re wondering about the gaps,<\/span>
\n<\/span>The fitful breath of it,<\/span>
\n<\/span>these different lines.<\/span>
\n<\/span>I did. I do.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I <\/span>am<\/span><\/i>\u00a0not a poem.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Verses just wish they had a name.<\/span>
\n<\/span>They want a mouth to stay.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because why am I<\/span>
\n<\/span>going somewhere – <\/span>
\n<\/span>oh, now,<\/span>
\n<\/span>even now,<\/span>
\n<\/span>again –\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m here now.
\nAre you<\/em>.
\nCan you catch me here?
\nAre you despising my trail,
\nor walking it barefoot, unreined?<\/p>\n

You’re following my eyes – <\/span>
\n<\/span>see that.<\/span>
\n<\/span>You blinked at me\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wish I had a name.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some questions wear a question mark.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Some don\u2019t?<\/span>
\n<\/span>Don\u2019t question things that are insane.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your thoughts – those moths.<\/span>
\n<\/span>They aren\u2019t sitting stale.<\/span>
\n<\/span>They\u2019re bits with wings<\/span>
\n<\/span>that fly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Disturb your soul,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Derange your rhythm.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have they lit their hairy wings on fire yet?<\/span><\/p>\n

Speculatively wild,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Beautiful flames<\/span>
\n<\/span>Catching the new in you,<\/span><\/p>\n

with trembling wings, in burning claim<\/span>
\n<\/span>vanishing them –\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a breath of amber,<\/span>
\n<\/span>I remain.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Soft and unforgiven<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mothfire I like writing on paper. This was once paper, too. You\u2019re wondering about the gaps, The fitful breath of it, these different lines. I did. I do. But I am\u00a0not a poem. Verses just wish they had a name. They want a mouth to stay. Because why am I going somewhere – oh, now, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":7242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":13,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[755,288,294],"wf_post_folders":[211],"class_list":{"0":"post-7241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-creative-writing","10":"tag-poetry"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Ana Kolesnyk","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/ana-kolesnyk\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/22088792266_2fbb2911a2_k-300x206.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Arts<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Arts<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["arts<\/a>","Creative Writing<\/a>","Poetry<\/a>"],"unlinked":["arts<\/span>","Creative Writing<\/span>","Poetry<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 7 months ago","modified":"Updated 5 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 4 February 2026","modified":"Updated on 7 April 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 4 February 2026 17:47","modified":"Updated on 7 April 2026 18:48"},"featured_img_caption":"Credit: Barry Burke on Flickr","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7241"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7245,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7241\/revisions\/7245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7241"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=7241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}