The night-time walking poetry series

Went a'walkin' tonight

Went a'walkin' tonight
And the moon looked just like
A tangerine slice
Standing ripe and upright
on a phantom table top
above the house tops
and the tree line
in the Western sky

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Walked again, late tonight.

(edited this on October 24)

Walked again, late tonight.
Up the road, northbound, past the elementary grade school
where Carnival weekend ended earlier, at 6 p.m.,
Except for the carnies, who must take it all down,
and pack it all up, before they can trek South.

Could almost swear I heard the mysterious sounds
of the spirit voices of teenagers, too old now
to be seen at a carnival for "the little" kids.
But sensed that the spirit voices still had
a tiny longing to be there once again,
to experience the wonderment and joy that carnivals bring
to young boys maybe young girls too, when first they ride
those oh so big machines, not the least embarrassed
to be clutching very close to the side
of dad; probably even mom too would do.
Or maybe it's just me I heard - missing the days
when Adam was younger, and smaller, and I might loomed
large, like Homer Simpson, a pretty big presence in his life.

Farther north, farther beyond the school, things got
eerily quiet. No dogs barking, no cars driving by,
no skunks, no coyotes, no raccoons - to be seen,
nor to be heard. Lights out save for the occasional
home with a TV light glowing in an otherwise dark room.

Turned around to come back.
And I wondered why the Ferris Wheel is missing?
Can it really be a carnival with no Ferris Wheel?

Cloudy skies, didn't even glimmer the moon until
I got back to the school. No tangerine moon tonight,
no way no how. Chalk white moon, moon beams barely
peeking through but when they do, eerily slipping through
the darkness of cloud cover. Saw one star only.

Is it always like this when summer slips away?

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Tangerine-shaped moon again tonight, so white

Tangerine-shaped moon again tonight, so white
Low riding in the pitch-black cloudless Eastern sky
Hovering, just hovering, not resting any any table-top
house-tops or tree-tops,
Looking more like it's being held ever so still
By some invisible puppeteer's strings

But how'd the moon move there tonight, midnight,
What arc did it travel?
What course did it take?

There is so much that I don't know,
That I still need to learn.

 

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Went 7-mile walkin' tonight

Went 7-mile walkin' tonight
Oh how far I've come in just seven weeks
From when I had to split up a 3-mile walk
Into halves, taking a long rest half-way
along the way, at the memorial bench
at the South end of Beese Park
looking back North at the baseball fields
but mostly the willow trees picture-framing
the marsh to the East

(Where by the way,
(and perhaps not entirely coincidentally
(Adam James, Nathan & I
(had bicycled to the football field
(playing without a care in the world
(under the biggest, roundest, orangest
(Fielder's moon I had ever seen;
(Pay attention
(the cycle repeats
(all things are connected)

Windy, windy, windy, windy, windy squall night
And a cold wind too,
My view of the sky very limited by the tall houses,
and the tall overhanging trees

Where's that old moon tonight?
Where's my moonlight friend?
Where's my moonlight sonata?
Where's my claire de lune?

As I walked first North, and then East
not a moon in sight
not a moonbeam
not a hint
And this seemed so strange because
I've started to follow the moon when I walk
And she's been moving, always moving on me
Teaching me just how much (as if I needed to be taught to know)
There is that I don't know, and how little that I do.

Then low hanging in the Eastern sky - what was that?
Huge orb, orange glow, reflecting those last memories
of sun setting, so big, so breath-taking
but just hinting at its presence.
I must walk on.

Zig-zagging back and forth to chart the 7-mile excursion
Moon thoughts forgotten as the wind continued blowing,
Sometimes even howling
and even when I made the sharp turn going due East on Main Street
there were no hints that old moonie even cared enough
to show off her splendor

UNTIL, that is, I got to where Northwest Highway
and Main street meet, and the view of Northeast-East
night sky comes revealed
And even though the moon by now was not sun-radiant-reflected orange

Old moon shone bright and awesome, in a way that will make me
forever reluctant, to use "awesome" to describe a thing again
All white now, this moon looked just like
The giant 1,185 pound biggest pumpkin award winning pumpkin
I saw most recently
Set on a violet sky, as if waiting for me
To fly up off my feet
and come to the table
to admire her.

Moonlight
Moon bright
First moon I see tonight
I wish I may
I wish I might
Forever hold the moon I see tonight

There is so much to learn
Too much, perhaps
But I will try and drink it in
All this that I can

Moonlight Sonata
Claire de Lune
Both you two tunes
Calling to me
Play me
Play me
Sing me
Sing me
Bring me
Bring me
Into another's heart
Into another's mind
Into another's soul

Time to start to play the piano again
It's been way too long
Way too long away.

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