the moon is at her brightest and most beautiful tonight
as she casts her gaze down, down onto the earth
and onto all the earth’s creatures, going about their evenings,
though they seldom gaze back at her

she is draped in her finest golden silks
sheer, translucent clouds wrap around her shoulders
and she peers at us through glasses made of pine needles
as we make our way homeward

she listens to us, too,
an ever-present ear as we talk to “no one in particular”
occasionally, one of us will speak to her directly
and those are the conversations she treasures most of all

she held my gaze tonight for eons,
or what felt like eons,
and as i stared up,
up,
up,
into the vast and immeasurable space between us,
i could feel her smile at me

11.13.19