A March Full Moon

by Helen Bar-Lev

One in the morning

a full moon looks through the window

disdainful

my friend full moon, dream-inducing,

in a night which has just crossed

the border to the Ides of March

I cannot sleep

The sun set white yesterday

to the backdrop of an egg-shell sky

if in the desert, it would have been perfect

but un-noteworthy in the city,

except to poets

White sun, full moon,

sisters in the same heaven

All the sleep incantations,

the holy entities invoked

the dozen remedies,

conventional and otherwise,

healing herbal teas,

to clear up this cold,

are for naught

and my chest congests to breathlessness

I am a slave to air

which refuses to go further

than the nostrils

the night is endless

Yesterday, a few hours ago,

the jackals howled to salute the moon,

at ten pm, earlier than usual

now an unhealthy siren shrieks

and dogs with it

the jackals sleep

I cannot

I sit in the rocking chair

covered and uncomfortable

did not know that all of a sudden

birds begin to chirp

that they all awaken,

every species of them

in perfect avian unison,

at the same almost-dawn moment

Was not aware how active the cats are

in the dark and then I sleep,

I know I’ve slept because of a dream

an hour, no more, but blessed,

it is almost six a.m.

* * * * *

© 3.2006 Helen Bar-Lev

Helen Bar-Lev was born in New York in 1942. www.helenbarlev.com  She holds a B.A. in Anthropology, has lived in Israel for 46 years and has had over 90 exhibitions of her landscape paintings, 34 of which were one-woman shows. Her poems and artwork have appeared in numerous online and print anthologies. Six poetry collections, all illustrated by Helen. She is the Amy Kitchener senior poet laureate. Helen was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2013 and is the recipient of the Homer European Medal for Poetry and Art. Helen is Assistant to the President of Voices Israel. She lives in Metulla, Israel.