11 Aug. 2020: "The Man in the Moon" by Billy Collins

The Man In The Moon

He used to frighten me in the nights
of childhood,
the wide adult face, enormous, stern, aloft
I could not imagine such loneliness, such coldness
But tonight as I drive home over
these hilly roads
I see him sinking behind stands of winter trees
And rising again to show his familiar face
And when he comes into full view
over open fields
he looks like a young man who has fallen in love
with the dark earth
a pale bachelor, well-groomed and
full of melancholy
his round mouth open
as if he had just broken into song.

Billy Collins

1 comment:

  1. This reminds me of driving at night. When the trees or city open up and "he comes into full view." I never thought of the moon as sad or singing. Maybe that will be a cool idea tonight when I look for the moon.

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