What Man Has Always Seen

Evening work is interrupted
By the tone of a text message
I’m late again

I stand up from the cubicle chair
And realize the darkness outside

Inside fluorescent reflection
Tries to mask a single white light
The rising full moon

From behind the lake it rose
Yellow, round, magnified
Silhouetting the boats

And I was too busy
To watch it with her

The traffic current pushes me home
An hour lost
At the curb I pull mail from the box

More to do
Tomorrow’s work day speeding toward me

I flip closed the box and look up
The moon is higher, smaller
But still worth attention

Bright and familiar
Light plains and dark seas
A few white spots radiating white streaks

It’s what Man has always seen
Over caves, pyramids, and coliseums
Above teepees, great walls, and castles

It’s the same moon

So I rocket to it
Reflect off
And visit the past

To fool myself that life had been easier
Without cars, highways, and corporations
Without advertising, TV, the Internet

But sometimes I know I’m fooling myself
So instead of reflecting off
I land on the moon

I wonder at the deep craters and sharp mountains
The black shadows of scattered boulders
The absence of air, water, sound

I create my own path
Through the gray, powdery plain
And take time to think
Each of my thoughts to its end

That’s when I find myself
At Tranquility

I look across the dry sea
Into the blackness of space
And wait for the earth to rise
Brilliant blue, white clouds swirling

That’s when I rocket back
Walk into my house
Put everything aside
And be with her