Serious moonlight fell brightly on the mountains tonight
Elegant moonlight fell loudly on the deer asleep in the yard
Broken moonlight fell splendidly on the swing set
Moody moonlight fell hard on the weedy pond
Pretty moonlight fell recklessly on the garden beds
Fierce moonlight fell thoughtfully on the recycling bins
Actual moonlight fell wildly on the coyotes falling on the rabbit
Personal moonlight fell purposely on my desk and books
Ancient moonlight fell perfectly on my bed sheets
Modern moonlight fell roughly scattering my thoughts awfully
Bowie died last night his exquisite alien soul has taken off
You are with another and I'm falling repeatedly
Shattered by this silently falling terrible moonlight


About this poem
"Where I live-in the country, on a hill overlooking farms and, into the distance, mountains-moonlight is an event. When David Bowie died, I realized that every time the full moon appears in the sky I think of his perfect description from 'Let's Dance.' To appoint a true adjective to a thing as fundamental as the moon so impeccably is to alter reality."
-Camille Guthrie

About Camille Guthrie
Camille Guthrie is the author of "Articulated Lair: Poems for Louise Bourgeois" (Subpress, 2010). She teaches at Bennington College and lives in upstate New York.

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The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day[at]poets.org.


(c) 2016 Camille Guthrie. Originally published by the Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate