like only a moon can

it happened once, then several more times in quick succession.

and then there was nothing.

waiting after was nothing like waiting before, when she did not know what might come.

still, she waits, like only a moon can.

many flies came and went. some even crashed into her, while others landed before scuffling around. but they who landed and left foot prints never came again.

had they only been more insects, creepy crawlies, it would be easier to bear their absence. here or there, stepping and leaping, picking off bits of her dead skin and stashing it away. she could imagine disliking them but couldn't bring herself to.

for a moment, those first few times, there was a certain hope. It had been very lonely up to that point. being visited was nice; she had never imagined they would, or could, leave their home orb.

so of course she would have preferred a longer stay; they left as suddenly as they arrived. what made them come? what made them go?

She assumed at first it was a special trip, just to meet her; but perhaps it had been a complete accident. Unintentional.

Yet; why did they leave little bits and bobs of themselves with her? Was it strewn, or was she right in thinking that everything they left was carefully placed? Was it litter, or did they crown her with the promise of their return? did they not seem victorious in their celebrations in meeting her at last?

Did they know she had watched them, loved them while orbiting them all this time? She shed her light on the tide pools, rocked them to sleep in the waves, over and over; then watched as their own lights bloomed; another mirror of the light from the mother orb.

their second visit happened so quickly after the first, only a few winks of her eye! twas no accident!

she played gracious host. is it any wonder expectations were raised? Certainly this was no coincidence; but a regular thing, a dalliance, the beginning of something more...

and it continued; four more times in but a few of their orbits of the mother. Each time, cheering, crying; her, them, and all of those back on their orb, she felt their joy as her own.

but then nothing.

more and more of their little flies of course, a swarming field around their home orb; but their faces and the pitter patter of their footsteps never returned. years turned to decades.

the strange little contraptions they left with her gave up before she did. one by one, they stopped moving. they left no instructions; what to feed them, what they needed. she could do nothing but wait for their return.

still they did not come. only more flies, more contraptions-- perhaps they did not feel as she had felt.

patience turned to misery-- how flattering it had been, to have them here, so close; observing and curious, delighted, so full of the same joy they had brought her for millennia.

perhaps there was nothing left to interest them in her. other orbs, including their own, certainly had more going on.

or there was no more value for them, in additional visits. maybe they got what they wanted.

she watched every rocket, every launch; some whizzing past her, onwards and farther, to larger and more fascinating orbs.

she tried resentment; called them insects, creepy, invasive. Clearly they were very busy crawling all over their own orb. too busy for a visit.

but she was only a lost lover, with no note of farewell, pining for a return that never came.

still, her eye remained fixed, winking, on the blue orb she loved.

and then; as suddenly as the first time-- blinking light in the distance--- and their little faces once more pressed against the glass! A rocket to the moon!

what joy!!! love holds still, after all these years, her for them and they for her!! they are here! they are alright! shining in the endless night, beaming and delirious, come blazing once more through the gloom to see her and be seen!

all is forgiven, nothing is lost, and she grins like only a moon can.

she hears their promises, their dreams; preens while they photograph her, as they name every freckle and delight in every ripple of her skin, waving through the window.

'we will return,' they tell her. 'we love you!'

she believes, she waits, and she loves; like only a moon can.

🌙

inspired by "moon joy", what advice the moon might give us, and humanity's deep love for the moon (and her for us), since our very beginning.