Winner, 2017
Los Angeles Poet Society National Poetry Month Poetry Contest
published by Los Angeles Poet Society
THIRTEEN WAYS TO LOOK AT THE MOON
The first way to look at the moon
is straight up
with a shot of whiskey on the side.
The second would be through
the site of a rifle,
a man on his knees.
The third, of course, is skipping
along the embryonic trail,
throwing starlight
to find your way back.
The fourth would be to plant a rose bush
on the sunny side of the hill,
the side that overlooks the corral
where you keep the horse
you rode in on.
You could look at the moon through a hole
in the middle of a slice
of buttered bread,
or through slits between the fingers
of the hand you’ve raised to cover
your eyes,
the moon’s beauty too great to bear
in an oversized tee
and bare feet.
Of the seventh, well, it’s the one
to come back to after you’ve been
away and returned.
Eighth is to point at her, arm outstretched.
Then take someone’s hand and say,
“The incidence of candle light
might make a pawn tremble
with delight.”
The ninth way is to be the pawn.
Way number ten would be not
to look
at the moon, but to look
at the stillness of the dark lake instead.
A circle drawn on a piece of paper
might be the moon. Look at it that way.
Or whisper her name
in every language you know.
The twelfth way to look at the moon
is to re-assemble the apple slices
in your piece of pie.
Thirteen is the moon watches you.
© 2017 Lisa Segal
THIRTEEN WAYS TO LOOK AT THE MOON
(after Wallace Stevens’ Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird)
