Poa Tree Poems
LUNA-SCENE
- by
FERDINAND
I dreamt that I strolled naked on the moon And with each step felt moon-dust twixt my toes, But no discomfort, neither heat nor cold With nothing which might lead me to suppose That this was something humans should not do, And there, aloft, our blue earth loomed in view. Now far ahead a range of rugged peaks Rose from the pock-marked plain on which I stood. I could not guess how far from me they lay And what I'd find beyond them, if I would Leap up from rock to pinnacle to rim; Earth-muscled, nothing could ambition dim. I listened for some sound, but all was still, No slightest breeze was felt to muss my hair. The colors were all gray and beige and brown, But in that black sky I became aware Of cold, bright stars, vast myriad specks of light What seemed bright day was also darkest night. And then I saw the rover in its track, As astronauts had left it,long ago, Except, within there sat a slender shape I told myself that this could not be so! I looked again, and saw that it was true: The figure, dressed as I was, dear, was you! I climbed beside you and we started off To drive across the moon and to explore, And it was bliss to know you rode beside, That you would know what we were searching for. Just so, we drove across vast trackless waste A leisured quiet drive, no need for haste. But suddenly there spread, not far ahead, A knife-edged shadow changing light to dark, I quickly tried to turn the headlights on For fear, in darkness, we might have to park And wait the sun's return, next lunar day-- How many hours that took, I could not say. But now I heard a sound, a distant chime That seemed familiar, but somehow unreal. I could not tell from whence it seemed to come But louder, ever louder, grew its peal And then I realized, it spoke no harm It was my clock, and this was its alarm. The moonscape vanished into morning gloom I yawned and stretched, and then became aware That I indeed, though home in my own bed, Was lying there amidst my sheets, quite bare, As I got up, began to don my clothes, I had to brush the moon-dust from my toes!