bringing me in

have you seen the moon
waxing away into the black veldt,
fading, like the universe is trying
to erase it, night by night.
it was full not three nights ago,
brimming in the evening blanket of stars.
its not hard to take for granted
the new moon that will arrive in a few days time,
wiping the sky clean.
but the new year will pass with
an old moon in place;
a half moon, waxing away,
none the wiser to twenty-sixteen
than i will be.

have you seen the moon
as bright as my eyes used to be,
but my back just a little less caved than it.
i feel its unwavering presence
even through the day,
hovering its pale face where the sun
had been only hours before.
it must be behind schedule,
marking the hours, the weeks, the months
wrong.

have you seen the moon
waxing into a thumbnail crescent
before our eyes, like saucers.
if i feel less and less like the person
i want to be every new years eve
it is because the universe is trying
to erase me, night by night,
pulling the star-pocked veldt over my eyes.
the only thing keeping me straight
is that old moon,
and only its waning will
bring me into the new year.