Lunar Landing

There are two wolves: one wants walkies, one wants treats.

Welcome, and a warm first hello to the newcomers!

I’m so happy you’re here.

This week, the poems orbit around the Moon, a card that represents a messy, tenuous step forward.

Contents:

1. Juicing

2. See How, or: Fixing Stuff With My Dad

3. All Souls’ Day

---

Suggested background music: “Hourglass Is Half Full” from Black Swan Event by The Lizzy Co Show

---

JUICING

The fight to live feels light as a feather.
My biceps can’t fit into any shirt. 
My mental health is stronger than ever. 
My heart is strong, and I’m sure of my worth.

Hope is a steroid, and I’m a giant:
While it runs in my veins, it overwhelms.
Hope is a lawyer, and I’m its client:
We roll up to the courtroom as ourselves. 

Together, Hope and I, we litigate
To what we feel we are owed some answer,
And what is better left outside the gate,
In a box marked “FREE, BUT THESE ARE CANCERS.”

It’s just a matter of finding the dose
Of Hope that lets me overcome the ghosts. 

---

SEE HOW

or:

FIXING STUFF WITH MY DAD

“See how the gap is thin, then it gets thick?
That means it needs a shim. Let’s go find one.
Do you think that this size will do the trick?
Wedge it in tight, and then, the job is done.”

“See how the screws leave holes in the drywall?
That means we need some spackle, and a knife.
We smear, flatten, sand, and then hide it all:
The skills I teach will serve you all your life.”

“See how we paint around each of the sides
And corners of the room as the first step.
After: a swath with the roller, flung wide.
We’ll do two layers, color rich and thick.”

See how capability came to be
The way I can see love expressed to me.

---

ALL SOULS' DAY

I need new holidays as I grow old.
All Souls’ Day never used to mean a thing.
Just a day in November when it’s cold:
Now, something stable to which I can cling. 

“There is no divot worn! There is no path!”
These are the falsehoods that grief would utter. 
Someone has already done all the math:
Look to history, and learn from others.

There are vessels that can hold these feelings:
That’s what a holiday is for, it’s true.
While swinging branches might send me reeling,
They also, often, bring me somewhere new.

Candles and soul-cakes, set for those we lost.
New holidays commemorate the cost.

---