May 21st, 1978 ?:?? a.m. poetry by Michael F. Nyiri

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"FullMoon" 

Steadfast, hanging
       as it were
     or stapled
No but it moves
Up there

Remember back twenty years ago when you
stared up at the moon and mommy said
"Look at the face -- Look at the face."
She said it so often that two years
later you saw it yourself and said
to your kid sister
"Look at the face -- Look at the face."

Then in highschool after a big game
and the bleachers were emptied of
screaming fans and your friends had
left for a moment, to talk to the
cheerleaders, you'd look up at the
face and he'd wink at you.

Then two years later the best dates
were those with the full moon staring
at you and her with fatherly affection.
You looked up in the air and you
felt he knew every thought your
mind contained.

Now
Benignly adorning the purple-blue sky
He appears as if in an instant -
Winking
Telling you that he'll always be around
To comfort you when you're down
And to cheer you when you're happy.

Darkening sky
            cannot
                destroy
                    his sheen
          or his fatherly smile
       

1978

copyright 2001 Michael F. Nyiri