In honor of the upcoming full moon and total lunar eclipse I present a poem I wrote back in 1994. It was winter, two days after my 18th birthday, as a matter of fact. I was waiting at a Milwaukee bus stop, rather late in the evening, after a rehersal of The Sound of Music at my high school. It was cold, but very clear that night.
Leo and LunaI and the Lion, the Lion and I,
We danced together cross a clear black sky,
And in the light of the silvery moon,
We floated and waltzed to a midnight tune.
A pink rabbit artist in the window sat,
Caressing the coat of a phantom cat,
As I and the Lion drifted on past,
Catching the Dreamer and holding him fast.
The Noah's ark beasts on the nursery wall,
Herded and frollicked and sounded the call,
When I and the Lion descended to see,
A star in the branches of the tangle-top tree.
The cloth covered watchdog was barking alarm,
Though I and the Lion meant Baby no harm,
So I and the Lion put Baby to sleep,
Then back to our dream-dance, a night tryst to keep.
Looking at it now, I can see ways that it can be improved, but at the time I was terribly proud of it. Very heavy on the personal, early-childhood imagery, which is one of the things I really like about it. I used to write quite a bit of poetry, most of it quite awful. Maybe I should start up again, one of these days.
