crescent 

the moon decided to stay 
in a crescent shape--
a perfect tilted smile--
a blink above Main Street.
at first most people didn't
notice that the moon had given up
on going through phases.
i noticed because i go down to the curb
to talk to the moon every night.
i tell the moon stories i would never tell
anyone else. i tell the moon that
i'm sad but i have not where 
to take this kind of sadness. 
i tell her that i think "sad"
is a misunderstood word-- maybe only understood
by small children who feel crushed with 
emotion & don't know exactly where it's
coming from-- 
the moon makes ribbon of 
her shiny skin & hands 
strands down to me to wrap up each sadness 
& hide them down underneath 
the rail road platforms in little packages
for pigeons to find. each time 
i place them i wait for the engine
to pass & then sneak under, kneeling 
in the trash & gravel to nestle
each of my glowing packages just
out of sight to the people
on the platform. i don't want humans
finding them.
sometimes i wonder if the pigeons
that open my boxes feel the sadness
wrapped in there--i hope they don't 
but i also hope they do. i come down
to talk to the moon, still in a crescent
but there's all kinds of other people now
gathered along the side of road
staring up at the moon, 
some go asking her why she's stuck
as if they know her, as if they've ever
talked to her before & i want to tell them
to leave the moon alone & let her 
do whatever she needs to do.
i decide to become a crescent too
so that i might understand.
i pull the covers over my head half-way.
tuck my knees into my chest & lie 
on the living room floor. pull all the blinds 
half-open. i blink as many times as 
i can in a minute-- a rapid flickering
of the earth. i come back outside 
where other people have taken
to sleeping on the sidewalk, hoping
to catch the moon's change. i crawl up
into the moon's lap & then lay 
crescent-like next to her. she speaks
in a language of ten-years-ago. 
that would make me twelve. she holds me 
& says that she is far too large
in the sky & that she doesn't want to be 
that full of sadness again. 
i show her how i blink & she laughs 
& blinks too & down below on
earth the few people awake 
see the moon blinking
like a flashlight being
turned on & off.