The Moon Has Come to Earth
Shall I compare thee to the moon?
Unable to shine yourself, you
Reflect the brilliance of others
And claim it as your own.
Cold and partial, the light beaming down from you
Splays on my sheets and across the hardwood floor,
Turning my lover's skin sallow,
And turning my heart sour.
But where the moon will wax and wane,
Your shadow remains
Wide enough to eclipse every
Well of joy from which I drink.
Though Luna be your name
I know you for another fame.
And though progression you may signify
To me you are anything but:
A cycle of despondency,
Masquerading as a beating heart,
Ready to raise me on a cresting wave
And dash me against the shore;
The rocky cliffs of your emotions,
Encircling a sea of false tranquility,
Invisible to me until
You push me tumbling down them;
A two-faced force
Claiming it is natural
To dictate my comings and goings
Simply because it thinks itself massive.
But size aside, you cannot try to wrench me
From the sand on which I lie.
I gravitate towards its infiniteness
More than I ever did your darkness.
-Alison Belle Bews (2015)