Monday 22 May 2017

Today's poem by Ellaraine Lockie, "Monologue After the Moon," together with Alexis Rhone Fancher's photo "Los Angeles Hangnail Moon."




Monologue After the Moon

by Ellaraine Lockie

           
            There fell a silvery-silken veil of light,
            With quietude, and sultriness, and slumber,
            Upon the upturned faces of a thousand roses . . .
            --Edgar Allan Poe

Queen of the Night, where are you
Goddess Luna who used to slide
the silk of your arm through the window
across the bed to massage stress into rest
You who can beacon a safe path for sailors
and nocturnal animals
Your knights of shining armor
in the sky echoing every epical act

Five nights straight your ghost
steals the sleep from my eyes
It stares with its own anemic eyes
and mocking smile
It slithers through the stars
A voyeur who can't
but watches others make love

Great Bear in Swedish folklore says the dogs
up there are so afraid they bark
Even brilliant Sirius dims when your imposter
lifts its bald head out of the darkness
Creeps under trees, haunts houses
and roams cemeteries
And then sheds its rotted rays
over the earth like a shroud

I would welcome even the sinister dreams
it whispers in my ears
rather than this offspring creature
Cannibal who rattles the cage of my mind
Swallows the flesh of my sanity
The iron from my blood
Weariness which doesn't cease when the sun god
awakens the eastern sky

Come back Rishima/Mahina/Mizuki
and honor your eternal commitment to my gender
with your regal crown of light
You who govern the ocean's cycle along with ours
 It's time--the creature is drooling
The red petals on the roses are dropping


* * * * *

"Monologue After the Moon" was first published in All That Remains, a Las Positas College Anthology.

Ellaraine Lockie is a widely published and awarded poet, nonfiction book author and essayist.  Her thirteenth chapbook, Tripping with the Top Down, was just released from FootHills Publishing.  Poetry contest wins have included:  Encircle Publication’s Chapbook Contest Competition for Where the Meadowlark Sings, Women’s National Book Association’s Poetry Prize, Best Individual Collection from Purple Patch magazine in England for Stroking David's Leg and San Gabriel Poetry Festival Chapbook Contest Award for Red for the Funeral.  Ellaraine teaches poetry workshops and serves as Poetry Editor for the lifestyles magazine, Lilipoh.


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