escapril day 20: moon
Once upon a time,
some friends flew me to the moon,
we were together, laughing.
But they left me there,
alone,
no way home,
as they returned to earth,
together, laughing.
(I guess they weren’t friends after all)
I built a house here and I sit
and watch the stars sparkle.
(they’re much more beautiful here,
unpolluted)
Life is slow, quiet,
one day at a time,
breathe in, breathe out,
thump, thump, thump,
I think and I think,
I walk, with slow, slow, steps,
I walked around the moon even!
(it took 122 days)
I talk to the moon, sometimes with a
tap, tap, tap of my toes
and the moon responds with echoes.
I watch the earth light up
and darken again,
watch the lights flicker
on and off, on and off, on and off
and I wonder what they’re doing
in their little houses
so far away.
I listen to wolves howling at me
and watch the moon hands push
and pull at the tides,
and it’s lovely
watching the fluctuations of life
in a snapshot – lovely,
lovely… but lonely –
at the end of it all,
they’re still on earth,
together, laughing,
and I’m still on the moon,
alone.
I peek over the edge of a crater and see them,
looking up at me, pointing at me, smiling,
together, laughing
(they’re not laughing at me,
they’re not laughing at me,
they’re not
laughing at
me).
There are people holding hands for the first time,
or talking about things they’ve never talked about,
and by the light of the moon, the night opens doors,
and brings people
together, (laughing),
when they look up and say,
isn’t the moon beautiful tonight?
and they giggle and murmur in agreement,
and I can hear their hearts growing bigger
and I know they mean it.
Sometimes I wonder if I jumped off the moon,
whether I could land back on earth safely?
Maybe the leap would be worth the risk,
if I had a chance at being back on earth,
together, laughing,
instead of on the moon,
alone.
People visit from time to time.
But they never stay long,
and I never invite them to,
they’ll all leave eventually,
who would want to stay with me?
on the moon,
alone,
when they could go back to earth,
and be together, laughing.
They never ask me to go with them either,
and I never ask to go,
This is how I live now,
Now this is what I know,
In my house
upon the moon,
alone
alone
alone.
Lauren Kathleen 