Dear Mothman: A Novel in Verse

by Robin Gow

It seems to me that “monsters” are almost always misunderstood— that “monster” is what people become

when other people are afraid of them for being different. People like me are called monsters sometimes.

I absolutely love this passage.

To show them everything

not just about Mothman but what being a monster means— how it’s like being a queer person? That I’m a queer person. The beauty of the unknown darkness and wild magic of a creature so few people get to see.

If I could add to my science fair project, I would try to answer not if monsters exist but what they’re here for— it’s much more interesting. I think monsters are here to make people like me feel less alone.