i.
It’s dark outside, but I know that they’re there.
They’re always there.
I open the door, and the cold night air rushes me.
Always the same rush.
So cold against my bare, paper-thin skin.
They like it that way.
I sit down, jagged rocks digging into my legs.
Bruises all I’ve got.
I hug my camera to my chest, closing my eyes.
They’ll come soon.

ii.
The first flash draws them in.
Their wings fluttering against my skin.
Powder freckles my nose, and I click again.
Hordes surround me, sticking in my hair.
Third flash and I catch a glimpse.
Billions of wings, the sky is masked.
They land on my shoulders.
I think they like to give me warmth.
But I’m just their tool, their perch.
Another flash for the layer of my friends.

iii.
It’s the same every night.
I give to them, and they give to me.
It’s my favorite give and take relationship.
But nobody else understands…
Nobody understands how I can abandon,
Sanity, that is, for the comfort that they give.
They’ll never know the feeling,
Of the wings against their cheeks…
And that is why they call me names –
Their favorite one was Moth Girl…
They’ll never understand.