Man in the Moon

Martha Meltzer

In the moments before dawn

when air is still and darkness thick

she awakes to the sound of the moon

whistling an old love song.

Bare feet skim cold wooden floors.

Her nightshirt’s hem sways in heartbeats rhyme

as she opens the window flooding the room

with ancient sighs of sod and heather

and the impious greeting of winter solstice.

She rests her trembling hand against the window ledge

and gazes at the lustrous moon.

White and pure casting magic enchantments

it hangs in the winter sky.

She sees neither curse nor crater

only his face shimmering down on her.

Martha Meltzer is a San Francsico Bay Area poet. She served her community as Poet Laureate for two years, 2007-2009, and continues working with poetry students in Pleasanton. She has ben published in various journals and anthologies including Poetalk, Tipton Poetry Journal, and California Quarterly. In 2009 she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

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