 |
Harvest Moon
|
|
| Start the car and head home. Jan and Tom are waving.
Raise your hand. I’m just going through the motions of living. Damn
it why did you pack your bags and leave? Why can’t I let you go?
Because I don’t understand why you left. I swear this drive gets
longer everyday. I should sell the house and move closer to town. They
have plowed the fields. New ground, plowed over and under and up side
down. That’s how I feel, ripped apart. You loved me. How can you
fall out of love? I didn’t change. You did…you! Why do I torture
myself with thoughts of you? God I miss you. I’m so angry I could
scream! What the hell is that truck doing? Oh my God. Pull over…pull
over.
This slender ribbon of road, plucked the Moon from the sky. Your golden hue filled the space beyond, blocking my mind from reality. Tethered by a frail thread, I came to a breathless stop. It seemed possible to touch you. Tracing your borders with my hand, my eyes mapped the shadows of your body. Holding the warmth of you, I trembled, remembering your numbing moods. Your cold face haloed in blue ice, on this lonely stretch home. Dropping my hand you lightly brushed against me. Slowly you rose above the road, the tree tops, your golden face paled as you climb to the night sky. I stand alone, your warmth gone. My head falls back to see the same Moon we sat under and shared our dreams. I can’t believe what I just saw. I’m crying. The lady in the truck will think I’m crazy. I am, I saw you in the Moon. Your warmth, your moods…you could be so cold. You shattered my dreams of what love is. I’m going home to an empty house…an empty life. No, no, tomorrow…I’ll start new.
I love this time of the year. Fresh plowed fields smell delicious. It will be snowing before long. I need to finish Joe’s Halloween costume. I can’t believe I volunteered to bake six pies for the school Halloween party and help decorate. The church social is the week-end and I need to bake two cakes. I’ll be in the kitchen the rest of the week. I’ll make eight pies and three cakes. Lee and Joe will eat two pies and a cake. I hope Lee has finished plowing, his back is bothering him. I wish he would go to see the doctor. Stubborn man, what am I going to do with him? Whoa! What the heck? I don’t believe this. Pull over, stop…stop. This long road that gently rolls across the plains, plucked the Harvest Moon from the sky. Your golden nimbus filled the space, blocking the miles of emptiness ahead. Held by a frail thread, you lightly bobbed up and down. I know this vast landscape plays tricks, distance can't be measured with the eye. I laughed, 'I break for the Moon'. Standing on the side of the road, it seemed possible to touch you. Reaching out, I could only trace your borders and peer into your craters. Feeling the warmth of your glow, I trembled. On this lonely stretch, between wilderness and home, you have followed me. Your moods changing with the seasons. Hide and seek, brought a smile. That cold face haloed in blue ice, numbed me. The light strobing across the plains, hurried me along. And your absence, worried me. You never prepared me for this visit. Lightly brushing against me, you slowly rose away. Above the road. Above the plains. Above the horizon. Your golden face less overwhelming, as you climbed the night sky. Glorious days. I wish Lee and Joe were here to see this. They will tease me like always. ‘The Moon doesn’t have moods you do.’ I can’t wait to get home and tell them. They won’t believe the Moon was sitting in the middle of the road, and I touched it. Think of that, I touched the Moon. |
||
 |
||
| Copyright
© 2011Diane Batten. All rights reserved. For more information see the Copyright and Disclaimer page. |
