Pandemic Moon 1
I tape the moon to my window
with my two good eyes
stitch my pillowcase shut
so the dreams can’t all fall out
button my worries up
every one
from collar to hem
hem my panic
so it can’t brush the floor
trace every loved one’s name
with my fingertip onto my arm
a love tattoo of sorts
breathe the cold Minnesota air
as I have left my windows open
so life
chilling as it is right now
fills my lungs
instead of fear.
Pandemic Moon 2
That swell moon
Rising over the rooftops
Has every street light blushing
Every window with its mouth open
The trains duck their heads and then look again
Longingly
She pulls every sleeper to her
And holds them in her arms
And everyone awake swoons
To her charms
As she carries us all
Up above the isolated cells
Of quarantine
And out
Into the free night air.
Pandemic Moon 3
(after Bertolt Brech)
The city whispers its secrets to the night
These are dark times
And the dark times are singing to themselves
Singing about the dark times.
Songs sung to the pandemic moon
Are just as luminous
Though they are marked
Like the strained notes
Of a fallen angel’s croon
Like singed wings of stained glass heroes
In a burnt down church.
These songs will sing themselves
But we set them truly free
When our voices rise
Above the pestilence
When our voices rise
And hang in tearstained notes
Like smoke
Dissipating on the wind.
…………..
Annette Marie Smith is an American author and poet. You can read more about her work at http://www.annettemariesmith.com.