A Rattlesnake Moon Poem by Ben Gieske

Have you ever, he said, seen a rattlesnake moon?
Never, ever, I said. What’s a rattlesnake moon?

One that captures solar light, soaking up its heat.
Surely, I said, I have seen that rattlesnake moon.

One that holds you tight with its swoon of dreamy light.
Oh, I said, I’ve been bitten by rattlesnake moon.

One that strikes, injects you with the bite of love.
Yes, I said, a victim of a rattlesnake moon.

One that shuns the clouds driving the shadows away.
That, I said, could not be a rattlesnake moon.

One that sheds it skin at night, bedevils in black.
How, I said, I gladly miss that rattlesnake moon.

One that frightens daylight out of you with delight.
Ah, I said, Ben told me of that rattlesnake moon.

- April 4,2008

Pulbished by The Ghazal Page online
Go to: www.ghazalpage.net/2008/moon_challenge/2008_moon_radif.html