phanaerozoic

WANING CRESCENT, WAXING CRESCENT

From the upper cusp
Of the crescent moon
Three arcs descend,
Enclosing within their arms
Brilliance enfolding darkness,
Until,
Curving back upon themselves
They meet once more,
Cusped in closure, and complete.

GIBBOUS MOON

Being not quite circular
In form,
The gibbous moon laments
Its imperfection, while
We observers simply smile.
With this moon we are content.
Our form
After all, is furcular.

FULL MOON

God must have been
In a Jackson Pollock mood
When he was flinging
Meteors and asteroids at the moon.
I’ll bet he was pleased
At the effect
When the dense rock that formed Tycho
Splashed white debris
In that star-shaped pattern
Of rays across
The moon’s pock-marked
Adolescent face.

NEW MOON

Hiding in the earth’s shadow
The moon sighs in relief
As it gets to close its eye
All the way for a change.