Wonder - March 20 2022

 

Wonder

March 20 2022

The full moon rose late,

hovering low

just above the horizon.

So as we walked along the forest path

its cool light

seemed to strobe between the trees,

long distorted shadows

alternating with illuminated bands,

like a floodlight through a picket fence

flickering on and off

strolling past.

The first clear night in weeks

so the full moon surprised me,

all that time behind the clouds

waxing unobserved.

The heavens turn.

The clockwork

of planets and stars

majestically ticks on,

steadily

predictably

indifferent to us.

While down here on earth

under its thin film of air

and  claustrophobic cloud

we keep our heads down

and hands busy,

going about our business

oblivious, as well.

The two majesteriums

of heaven and earth

each with its own measure of time.

The heavens circling

in great recurring cycles,

while ours is a short jagged line

inexorably descending

to some final hour.

Why do we so rarely look up?

When did that child-like wonder

abandon us?

How have we become

so inured to beauty?

And what is it

about this ghostly light

that can calm as well as thrill,

make the night

seem so full of possibility?

Until it rose above,

and the shadows shortened

the light brightened

the moon seemed too large for the sky.