“Mooning” the whole world

The dogs and I have been enjoying a(nother) lazy, layabout summer day, although it feels more like one of those spring days that never showed up during spring. It began early this morning when we took our walk under a waning gibbous moon. We know that because yesterday we looked up moon phases on NASA’s web site.

The research excursion was triggered because we had read recently that there isn’t a “half moon” phase. What we read seems true, according to NASA. Actually, we need to rephrase. There is a half moon phase but we don’t call it that, for some reason we refer to a “half moon” as a quarter moon. This web site has an explanation. See if it makes more sense to you than it did to me.

In case you missed it (we did because of all the cloud cover), July 3 was the full moon the Ojibwe refer to as Midsummer Moon and the Lakota call Cherries Blackening Moon. Sunday evening will be the last quarter moon. These factoids are brought to you from the WeatherGuide Calendar.

Now, we already told you it’s a lazy day so we’re going to close with today’s poem, keeping in mind that  poets aren’t astronomers, and go stir the sourdough starter we’re refreshing, just as we promised yesterday.

The Phrases of the Moon

By Andrew Joron

Full

 

            the blow to a gong

—gone blind

           

            with the sight of white

Silk, O milk

            of my reason—

           

            sun reseen in

My mad mad mirror.

           

 

Gibbous

 

Sense

Less science: the

 

Wish-apparition of a perfect fact.

 

            As thought, the war

Of one upon one.

 

 

Half

 

Half a mind almost mine.

 

Whole

             fragment, I am

A being from another word.

 

 

Crescent

 

Bow bent back—to what release?

 

            My lone line, the join of all I am not.

 

A minor truth betrays

A major one—

A lore

            for the lyre.

For it is written: liar with a why.

 

New

 

            Calling all coincidence, I will

Deem the dark my day.

 

Yet—if I say

            I am lying, I am lying

To you now.

 

O zero raised to zero—I am lying with you now.

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