Monday, April 18, 2011

It's Me Against the Moon Again


The human body
contains something like
78 percent water.

My son asks me
about the importance of the moon and
I explain the way tides work

Gravity pulling at the Earth;
Mountains holding on;
Humanity holding strong, but
water giving way,

pushed and pulled
between Sun and Moon;
between Earth and Stars.

He asks what else is important about it
and I think of the moon,
the way it pushes me
and pulls me

because I'm made up
of something like
78 percent water
so I must have an inner-tide

that urges all those
particles left over
from exploding nebulae
and neutron stars
to scatter every which way

and return home
like salmon do
when it's time to die

but instead, I think a little further
and tell him we might need it
to find our way home
should something happen to all of our
street lights, and cars and flashlight batteries.

I tell him it's important
because it makes people,
both children and adults,
look up and ask questions
just like he's doing now.

Just like I do every night.

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