Swaddling the Moon

 Swaddling the Moon

The wind was excitement and cooked oats.
Expectation was a big, red circle
on the calendar.

Dreams were Crayolas
scattered on the rug
sleepless nights in a rocking chair
lullabies and college tuitions.

Cramped fingers
ran along fairy-tale edges
for nine short weeks
unable to pinch its chubby cheeks.

To dilating eyes
the sky was watered down
but I could see vultures circling.
I screamed, threw stones
begged them to leave
but the horizon was crumpled tissue
bleeding.

The moon emerged
smaller than a silver dollar
with no footprints
or photographs.

We cradled it in mournful hands
all sad words
smeared in tears
and we never knew
whether to swaddle it
in pink or blue.

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It's pretty abstract, but I think you can figure out what it is about. I try to convey it through imagery and metaphor. It's an old poem. It was so painful that it took me 12 years just to be able to write about it. It's been published twice.  

The line "all sad words" is an allusion to the John Greenleaf Whittier poem, "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'"

You called me Dayna again. Everyone has trouble with my name :( 

I have a sister named Shana, and we both rhyme with banana.

There was a time when I had a best friend named Anna, and my sister's best friend was Lana. That got really confusing when we were all together and someone called one of us. 

Legally my name is spelled with only one n, but I add an n professionally so people will pronounce it correctly. I am not sure if it comes up with both n's when I book a Cameo? Dana vs Danna? 

Thank you for reading.