Lunar Eclipse
Last night I rose to watch the full eclipse––
a blood orange moon, full in the dark night sky,
around it, scattered stars and tall palm tips.
It was as though in this world, only I
watched the last fingernail of glowing moon,
chewed at by shadow, slowly wane and die.
And then the night birds with their lonely croon
gave timbre to this darkened night soon joined
by lonely burro, braying for the moon
as though they mourned for vision now purloined
or simply sang for joy of adding to
the beauty of this dark moon newly coined.
Then once again the moon’s edge came to view.
Earth moved aside in favor of the sun
and for an hour, I watched as moonlight grew.
Then sought my bed, the pageant not yet done,
as light increased and shadow slowly waned.
Inevitably, once more light had won.
The ending known, no mystery remained.
Our prompt today was to write a poem in terza rima, a form invented by Dante and used in The Divine Comedy. It consists of three-line stanzas, with a “chained” rhyme scheme. The first stanza is ABA, the second is BCB, the third is CDC, and so on. No particular meter is necessary, but English poets have tended to default to iambic pentameter. One common way of ending a terza rima poem is with a single line standing on its own, rhyming with the middle line of the preceding three-line stanza.
See more blood moon photos here: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2015/09/27/eclipse-of-the-blood-moon-over-mexico/
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
This is excellent and I’ll definitely give this form a try. Had to rush mine out today as the youngest is involved in a dance festival. Same tomorrow and the day after as well. Be prepared for three days of awful poetry!
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Rooktopia and commented:
A poem done in terza rima and about the lunar eclipse? Perfect! I also loved come of the imagery, especially the one about the “last fingernail… chewed at by shadow.”
LikeLike
Beautiful piece! Such vivid imagery and a great flow.
LikeLike
Thanks, Serena. I’m going to check out your blog as well.
LikeLike
Loved the peace of this, the beauty and the loneliness and the aloneness of one person standing by herself watching this huge solar event–and pulling it down to terms she and we can understand. I didn’t notice the “form” or any constraints which is a good thing, isn’t it?, as I was so taken with the beauty of your imagery. “chewed it by shadow” is my favorite visual which includes (almost) a sound– then sound comes in delightfully with that burro’s call. Yes, an alone-some, yearning type of poem…
LikeLike
Exactly my thought as I observed it. It would have been wonderful to have someone sharing the experience.
LikeLike
A beautifully written piece… an imaginable experience so few of us realize to enjoy! Well done!
LikeLike