dear goddess on the moon,

I have been desperate to believe in something

since I was a little girl

bereft of family stories

.

(those don’t get passed on

in families where fathers

blame their sons

for the death of mothers)

.

so I looked up to the sky

the sun was too blinding

to stare long enough to dream

but, oh moon

you were just right to gaze at

for hours in the night

.

long enough for a girl born

(by accident—

unwanted)

without stories

to imagine someone grand

beautiful, with silver hair flowing

long as a river

reaching out gently

toward souls wishing

to feel cleansed

by moonlight on their skin

.

calm eyes

a smile on lips

that would never shout or curse

at a child

(it’s a family tradition)

.

so dear goddess on the moon—

I’ll be your follower

standing in the glow of your moonlight

wondering how you got up there

and why I’m down here

.

but I’ll always be grateful

to imagine you up there

and imagine someone kinder

than anyone my younger self

had ever met

.

.

with love,

a girl beneath your light