A Name of its Own: Teacher's Tribute to the Moth

Joseph ​Pfeffer, Head of Leawarra House, is not just an inspiring English educator but also a published poet.

His words find their way into publications from time to time, and he was shortlisted for the 2024 Red Room Poem Forest Award in the Teachers category. His shortlisted poem, , explores the power of names through a poetic lens.

Sparked by curiosity during research, he discovered an injustice, ‘that the adult moth, so ornate, so fragile, had to share a name with its juvenile self seemed something of a disservice'. The poem invites readers to consider how language shapes perception and to question the assumptions embedded in the words we use.

Hear the poem take flight in the poet’s own voice below.