Under an August Moon
Michigan boy Ray Sharp has given us some wonderful reading [see ( ), Clavicle, and Sternwheeler, and also see his blog The Bard of Liminga]
and the trend continues. Today we read a toasted marshmallow of a
setting poem, layered with fable imagery and universal identity. In
Ray's own words: "Coyote (like Raven in the Pacific Northwest) often
plays the role of the crude, profane, bawdy, humorous, and, above all,
playfully cunning trickster in Native American tales. Contemporary
writers, including poets Gary Snyder and James Koller and novelist
Ursula LeGuin, have bent the trickster archetype to modern
sensibilities and settings while preserving Coyote's traditional
playful attributes. This poem results from a fleeting vision on a
moonlit night in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan at the peak of
wild blueberry season." Kudos to Ray on another glorious poem, and also
on his successful completion this past weekend of another Ironman
triathlon—yes, fractured clavicle and all!
Under an August Moon
By Ray Sharp
Coyote, wise old trickster
shuffling 'cross the road
under an August moon,
you look a little shaggy,
a little grayer,
but you and I know
the best blueberry patches,
the way across the swale,
how to step light
over a thin crust of windpacked snow,
when to chase
and when to lay in wait.
The moon casts
reflected sunlight
on the old familiar trails,
as the summer night
gathers memories
of distant, bygone loves,
and traces a crooked path
upon my dark betrodden heart.
Under an August Moon
By Ray Sharp
Coyote, wise old trickster
shuffling 'cross the road
under an August moon,
you look a little shaggy,
a little grayer,
but you and I know
the best blueberry patches,
the way across the swale,
how to step light
over a thin crust of windpacked snow,
when to chase
and when to lay in wait.
The moon casts
reflected sunlight
on the old familiar trails,
as the summer night
gathers memories
of distant, bygone loves,
and traces a crooked path
upon my dark betrodden heart.
Posted by Annmarie at 9/1/2009 2:00 AM 
Categories: today's words
Tags: fable coyote Ray Sharp August moon aging metaphor
Categories: today's words
Tags: fable coyote Ray Sharp August moon aging metaphor
Comments