Luna Advenit

Dark moon greets us
Not a black sky
Stars, pulsating silver
Hang on a woven web of time
Shooting across the sky
Evading our hunger for their trails
Or, caught in the fraction of a glimpsed moment,
Greeted with joy, mirth and wild abandon
Blanketed against cold, we sit and watch
While time lapses unnoticed.

Each night she grows
First, a mere whisper of cloud,
Then brighter as the world turns away from solar splendour
A hard silver crescent
Showing promise of more to come
She does not honour us with her presence long
This waxing moon
Like a child dances but a short while before sleep,
She, too, slips away across the horizon
Almost as we succumb to slumber.

Seventh day, her beauty is assured
Half moon,
Yet bright enough to seal her promise to the sea
Her silver path stretching out across the waves
Enticing us to follow
Watching her rise from tree to tree
Demanding our allegiance
Hanging in the sky above us
Diminishing the stars with her brightness

Each night we watch her fullness grow
Her brightness casting longer shadows than the sun
Making this world of greys and silvers her own
Holding us with her awesome presence
Waiting, waiting for the moment of perfection
The wholeness of her circle
The shapes and faces upon her surface
Her lanquid light exposed to all the earth

It comes
Not at the expected moment
Clouds cover her face, wind howls, rain lashes all things
But the following night
Making our way home from the beach
Dusk enveloping our footsteps
A half turn to bid farewell to the sea for another year
Reveals a golden hint above the horizon
The moon! The moon!
When all return, she is full-birthed
Sailing above the sea in a golden cloak
Rising upwards even as we watch
Casting her golden pathway across the waves
Bidding us come, join her in majesty
Our minds held by her gaze, we stand,
Marvelling at such a sight
On such a night
Revealed to us!