A Child's Harvest Moon

I remember sitting

on the floor

wood, dust, and rug tassels

a forest of legs

table and chair

a thicket of walnut

impenetrable

the swords of adults

useless

and I watched

fractured through

diamond panes of glass

the moon

as she climbed

so slowly

so bright

bigger than the sky

bigger than the world

filling my eyes

with tears

unearned

if necessary

feeling so safe and loved

even when you know

you are safe

and you are loved

is different and strange

and beautiful

like the moon

when you are five

and sitting beneath

a table in the

private fortress of

silver shadows

she drew

with such care

across your mind.