There’s something about cupping my hands around yours—
Like two crescents of the same moon,
Holding a world within—
Yet, nothing at all
Just a space,
unchanging—
A moment the cold cannot reach
Let’s hold it a little longer
Leave the world eclipsed
So what if we’re late?
It’s already all in hand.
Tag: moon
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Crescents
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Eid chaand (moon)
They say Eid has come and gone,
Twice over!
The streets are scented with rose petals and fatty aromas of feasts from every home
Pristine pressed garments adorn the happy crowds,
Flowing like flags at full mast in jubilation,
Like sails gently billowing with each excited breath
Gleeful faces embrace with glistening gazes,
Rising above this gentle hum of joyful chatter, a chorus of “Eid Mubarak” echoes in every ear
“Eid is here! Eid is here!”
A small child runs through the town, beaming,
Screaming,
As his little prayer hat bounces around his crown.
A nostalgic, soothing sound
Yet I stand here confused,
Bemused and surprised
How can it be Eid today, when my moon has yet to rise?
I’ve been searching now for days,
It’s like she vanished,
Like she fell out of the sky
It’s empty up there,
As am I down here
Where is my moon?
Have you seen her?
Eluding my eyes, yet consuming my mind,
I’m looking up, but the clouds refuse to part
My heart races,
Eyes darting across the skies in vain
Mystified, I’m misty-eyed,
All I feel is the rain
It sure doesn’t feel like Eid…
In this sea of celebration,
I’m adrift, seeking her gaze
My moon…
I only find her absence when I look up
The air feels stagnant without her scent,
The feasts lack flavor and festivities premature
Why is everyone celebrating?
Eid isn’t here
I think the Imam made a mistake
It can’t be Eid without her…
It can’t be Eid without her!
She’s not in the sky
It can’t be Eid without her
No, I’m not crazy, this is!
So stop all the hugs and kisses
Take down the lights and turn off the stoves
Go home
I’ll look again tomorrow…
Perhaps a glimpse tomorrow?
Inshallah…
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The day the moon fell out of the sky
Oh hi there!
Come over it’s freezing!
Come catch the heat off this fire
Stand closer if you like
The situation is pretty dire
Honestly mate, I can’t see an end in sight
Might be worth investing in a warmer coat
You don’t want to test your resilience to the cold
I promise you that much
You’ll be clutching your chest and freezing
Did I say invest?
I think those days are gone
Maybe in your grandkids lifetime we’ll be back there again
Granted I have no idea
But what with this basically being an apocalypse
I’m not sure if crypto captures the zeitgeist of now
Somehow it all seems so abstract
We were so privileged to be distracted from our fragility as flesh and blood beings
Sorry, I tend to ramble..
I shouldn’t blurt out ‘blood’ to strangers
It’s unbecoming
If you don’t mind however I have a question to pester you with
Do you remember where you were?
What you were doing?
The day it all went dark
Yes right?
I guessed right!
Hahaaa!
I confess I
Only asked so I can bore you with my story
Visitors are so few now
It feels like I’m invisible sometimes
Allow me some time please
Time to defrost the moment and let it thaw
The moment when I saw the moon fall out of the sky
It was a balmy Indian summer night
You know that fake summer right
I happened to be walking along the coast
The cliffs appeared as though someone bit the crust off a sad looking sandwich
I prefer mountains you see
The sea to me is..sorry I digress
By the coast as the stars were waking up
Shaking up the canvas of the sky as only they can
Paralysed by the majesty of the celestial void unfolding
As if it was holding me by the shoulders
Compelling me to look up
I folded my arms closed
The vastness of it all
Sent a cold shiver right through me
Honestly the heavens threw me like never before
And still it wasn’t done yet
No way my friend
So I decided to sit
The wind worn grass looked as if the ground had been painted
Atop this scruffy ledge I waited
Baited by the heavens, I waited
Adding small clouds to the nightscape above with each escaping breath
And finally as the whisps of stray clouds parted
There she was
Not a moment sooner
Unfortunately for this impatient lunar-tic (sorry!)
I’m talking about the moon of course!
I’d seen her like everyone else, thousands of times before
Tonight though there was something more
Or should I say less?
Impressive as always but how can I put it?
Dimmed?
Depleted?
She seemed incomplete
Im certain that if an eclipse occurred that day
Sunlight would pierce through
The moon never had a fierce aura
She was a gentle beacon of hope
For me at least
A feast for the eyes and soul
I talked to her often
Her light softened the darkness in me
So it was odd to see her so… vulnerable?
In hindsight it was sort of inevitable
Her plight was a long time coming
I overheard on the news that we were hurting her
Something about over polluting
And all the looting going on
Was straining the moon’s pull
Too many looked to her
Her schedule full
We were told to be considerate
Help each other and be kind
Not blindly look to her but to look around
Find our own answers
Give her a chance to breathe
There were documentaries made I remember
Studies showing the moon was starting to crumble
But we scoffed
It’s the moon!
She belongs to us
Scaremongering would not fool us
Alas
Foolish foolish little birds we were!
Our moon the Empress of the night sky
Falling into a depression and we didnt ask why
Our moon that gave and gave
We could’ve at least tried you know
There I go rambling again
As though ambling through my memories will delay the final chapter
So yes, where was I?
Sitting on the cliff edge soon after sunset
Worried sick at my moon looking so upset
I adjusted my feet
Loose rocks tumbled down the chalk face
Gosh if you could see her face
Im ashamed to admit I saw it every night
The beauty and the sadness
I abused her and stole her gladness
Blind to her despair
Ignoring her disrepair
For like all of us, my needs trumped hers
We all looked to her
But we didn’t see her
We talked to her
But we didn’t hear her
In the pervasiveness of the night
Her ubiquitous presence was taken for granted
The moon!
It’s always in the sky!
Well, that night
On that cliff edge
I saw, as she teetered over the sea
She stood as unsteady as her reflection
I heard her crumble
Like hailstone beating a drum on the waters surface
Screams began to echo across the horizon
As more and more of us witnessed the horror unfold
As our beloved moon unravelled
She looked so betrayed
Dishevelled and dismayed
And we were all to blame
We heard her cry
On the winds of the night
Her cries found themselves homes in once deaf ears
But my friend it was too late
Not one of us thought to look up to her and ask what she needed
And she needed so little
She just needed to be needed
And to be heard
It’s absurd how simple it should have been
And so you know the rest
As we cried and prayed for her to hold on
She began to fall
Our once mighty moon
Would be gone soon
The fall was so slow
I almost felt like I could catch her
Save her
Instead of savour her
But I couldn’t
I saw her sink beneath the waves
Along with the rest of us
That silent night was pierced with the echoes of her cries!
And now those cries live within
Since that fateful day
The day the moon fell out of the sky
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Mah’wish
They call her the pink moon
The April moon
Atop her throne in the sky she sits
A beguiling Queen
In the darkest hour she somehow finds light
A beacon that makes us raise our heads skyward
Captivating eyes with her light
Clouds like the gentle sweeping of an artists brush grace her face
Yet they dare not linger too long for the sky belongs to her
Enchanted by her light, studying her features
Tell me, is she frowning, drowning or crying in despair?
Now look in your heart, do you feel the light?
Look up again and see her smile back at you
She saw all your scars and she’s still there
Quietly observing without judgement
Listening to your lifetime in a few fleeting moments
How fortunate we are for this April moon
This lofty exalted moon
At once my closest companion
Yet achingly out of reach
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