Full Moon

No longer throne of a goddess to whom we pray,

no longer the bubble house of childhood's

tumbling Mother Goose man,



The emphatic moon ascends--

the brilliant challenger of rocket experts,

the white hope of communications men.



Some I love who are dead

were watchers of the moon and knew its lore;

planted seeds, trimmed their hair,



Pierced their ears for gold hoop earrings

as it waxed or waned.

It shines tonight upon their graves.



And burned in the garden of Gethsemane,

its light made holy by the dazzling tears

with which it mingled.



And spread its radiance on the exile's path

of Him who was The Glorious One,

its light made holy by His holiness.



Already a mooted goal and tomorrow perhaps

an arms base, a livid sector,

the full moon dominates the dark.