Borderlands Moon

Borderlands Moon

New Moon  May 8, 2024

Time of grass pendants

Little bells of glassy green

With a hint of autumn already haloed

Weeks before they dry on the stalk

Their spindles, their Sufi whirling prayer

One rooted ankle turned sunwise

All the way to the center of the earth

In response to provocation of air

They will ping a gold tone when summered

Iris out, widen our gaze, to marvel

At the tug upon all the senses

That the walking body dances within

Heartache birdsong, expressionist trees

A sky that devours winged light insatiably

Into which we careen outwards

& fall back breathless into

Just one step into beauty

Across a steady stream of pure water

& the signal fire is lit

It’s time to wake

& give praise

Give awareness

Give whatever we have

So we will be welcomed

When we finally lay down

As the porous border between

Now & then

In one house lives the sun, moon, and stars. Within that

house is another house of sun, moon, and stars. –And

then another, and another—There is no end to the

imagination.

                        —Joy Harjo

Poem by Qayyum Johnson.

Painting by Suiko McCall. Don’t Be So Predictable, 2022. Digital print, 14×11″. Prints available upon request: suiko@artmonastery.org.