May 6, 2020

Moon Walk

Two-leggeds tucked in for the night,
teeth brushed, water sipped, foreheads kissed,
I take the four-leggeds for a turn around the
pasture, for relief – theirs and mine.
The sky clear, the moon near full, their
shadows, and mine, are strong as we make
the round, just one, circling the cedar in the
center of the pasture. It has a gravity of its
own, specific and scented, enough to slow
my step but weaker than the pull of sleep.
The dogs take off again for the house around
the two-thirds mark, knowing, as they do,
our orbit runs more elliptical than not. They
tangle in play on the return, trailing their
black shadows like comet tails, spending the
last of the day's fuel in cool, lunar glow.