the man in the moon / the second part

––we learned about the "man in the moon,"

not by academic instruction, but by, well,–– actually

we just seemed to know about the man in the moon.

somebody, somewhere, at one time or other told us about it,

and when we looked up, this somebody navigating the moon face

with the dexterity of an index finger said: "see? there's the eye,

there's the mouth, can't see the nose, but there's the other eye!"

and sure enough, there he was. "the man in the moon."

––it takes some study and a large dose

of imagination to visually decipher the man in the moon,

to make it out as it conforms to the implied 

pictures they've also made of the stars.

they've said, for example, a specific constellation

is called the "water bearer" so we looked up and mapped-out

the "water bearer" although it could've just as easily been an "anteater."

––likewise, the man in the moon isn’t a like a halloween mask that

jumps into view when you open the door: "Dracula"!  "Nixon !"

we have to work at the image, make it the way they say it is.

––the man in the moon isn’t even a full-length man; that is,

a man from head to toe, where we can scrutinize his choice of shoes,

his suit of clothes, debate the material of his coat in winter, or snicker at

the crop of his hair, or his nakedness,–– a more detailed account of

what could be considered as the man in the moon.

––it's only the abstract face of a man assigned to the surface of the moon,

making the moon a silvery ornament gracing the nub of the hood in the sky,

or earthbound, the king of a nation stamped into a commemorative non-

negotiable coin.

––with scrutiny we can call-up another image: "the woman in the moon"

and there she’ll be, wise goddess, glorious, strong and beautiful.

––with alternate scrutiny we can call-up another image: "God in the moon"

adding another metaphysical dimension to the discussion of the imagery:

the cold Face of God (oh, god) in the moon, or––

we can rely on the foundational image: the geological

depressions of the moon's surface causing the reflective chiaroscuro

of the faceplate and there we are, romance be damned, all grown up.