My last five posts of 2020 are reruns of five of the most viewed posts on this site during the year.
I Praise the Moon, Even When She Laughs
I got drunk once and woke in Korea
with you watching over me.
Odd, how you spend seasons looking
down, and I, up. If I lived in a cloud,
could you discern me from the other
particles? Perhaps your down is
peripheral, or left, or non-directional. I can
fathom this without measuring scope,
yet I feel queasy about the possibility
of being merely one vaporous drop
coalescing among others, unnamed
and forgettable, awaiting the particular
atmospheric conditions to plummet to my
fate. As if we control our own gravities!
One winter I grilled pork tenderloin under
your gaze, unaware that the grass
around me had caught fire, and when I
unwound the hose and turned on the
faucet you laughed, as the hose wasn’t
connected and only my feet were
extinguished. Dinner was delayed
that evening, but I praised you just the same.
I look up, heedless in the starsโ grip, unable
to retrace all those steps taken to this here,
now, but still you sway above the branches,
sighing, lighting my path, returned once
again, even if not apparent at all times. Every
star signals a departure. Each is an arrival.
* * *
“I Praise the Moon, Even When She Laughs” was published in Sourland Mountain Review in January 2017.
We’re not laughing! We’re clapping. ๐
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I seem to excel at unintentional slapstick. ๐
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Maybe put a disclaimer in your tags.
But then does anybody read tags? ;(
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Ha! The humor in the poetry is intentional (usually), but life keeps offering a plethora of comedic moments. ๐
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love it –
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Thank you, Beth.
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Wonderful mix of awe and comedy in this one! Every departure an arrival is a good focus at YE (or life end … or Dark Moon …)
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My life is full of comedic errors and laughter, even at the worst of times.
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Wonder and delight in being alive comes through with your sense of humor.
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Thank you, Ali. Iโm glad to still be here!
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“only my feet were extinguished” is a favorite line from where I sit.
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It was one of those nights!
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