FULL MOON
Full moon says look I am
over the pinebreak, says give me
your empty glass, pour
all you want, drink, look
out through your windows of ice,
through the eyes of your needles
observe how I climb, lay aside
what you weave on your looms
and see clouds fall away
like cold silk from your shoulders,
be quiet, hear the owl coming back
to the hayloft, shake loose
your long braids and rise up
from your beds, open
windows and curtains, let light
pour like water upon your heads,
all of you women who wait, raise
the shades, throw the shutters
wide, lean from your window ledge
into the great night that beckons
you, smile back at me
and so quietly nobody can hear you
but you, whisper, "Here am I."
by Kathryn Stripling Byer, from BLACK SHAWL, LSU PRESS, '98
5 comments:
I ADORE this poem!!!
Hi Kay, We are moon watchers in my family. We will wait for hours at Chatuge Dam for the full moon to rise over the mountains, which sometimes is two hours after it has risen in the flatlands. We are patient. We drag the men with us. They wait quietly.
When the full moon wakes me sometimes I walk outside to see her and find someone one else in the family is out there also looking at the moon.
I so love this poem and the rest of Black Shawl. We're moon watchers, too. I'm a Cancer, I'm a moon child . . .
Such a beautiful photo, Kay, and of course, the poem is exquisite. But you know how i feel about the Moon, and the Goddess. :)
. . been reading Black Shawl to a sick friend. She's not a poetry reader but loves this book of poems.
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