Full Moon

Aroused by Full Moon
cats prowl the milky fields.
The mice are no longer hidden.
Things that should be silhouettes
reveal their shadows
in light that stirs the sleeping landscape.

Burdened by Full Moon
clouds buldge with steely shine.
Moonlight burns a hole in the sky,
a tunnel of rainbow opening
to the thinning blue space
beyond the clouds and air.

Charged with Full Moon
eyes watch from the woods.
Paws explore the thrush and bush,
looming near and far.
Insomniac owls in the rasping oaks
call to the rhythm of the wind.

Disarmed by Full Moon,
Orion rises without his sword
no weapon to battle the warrior
who tricks the night with mirrored sun,
as I watch sleepless from the meadows
under the Full Moon rising.


—Eric Nelson