THE LANTERNFLY.

My legs tremble when I wake up now, I'm not sure why. I probably need to eat something—a garden salad the colours of sunset and bruises. I need caffeine and to stop making a list of things. The nothing is always waiting and welcoming. Just for a minute, sit in the not-yet. But the monkey clatter bubbles up all the same, no different than well-taken care of sourdough. There's a name I keep turning over in my head. Before The Light The spotted lanternfly is beautiful. The forewings like grey calligraphy paper, polka-dotted. Underwings a shock of red and black and white. Colouring belonging to a naturalist's illustration from the 19th century. Lycorma delicatula. Delicate. There's that word. The lanternfly is also a terrible, invasive planthopper, arriving as egg masses on imported stone in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 2014. Spreading across North America ever since. The lanternfly feeds on over 70 plant species, shitting a sticky honeydew promoting unhealthy, sooty mould growth. Don't…