The Vast Remainder Moon

The Vast Remainder Moon

Full Moon  October 20, 2021

 

A person goes walking

they go in all kinds of weather

surrounded by strangers

many of whom become friends

others will be lovers whose eyes

do that sunset thing to the heart.

 

Like the moon this person changes

with time & perspective, with humility

all the while, whether they know it

or not, they radiate a circumference of light

that does not stop at the river of stars.

 

Their presence keeps going

growing wide & wider,

named & nameless evermore.

 

In the telling, it’s simple:

we enter, we speak & act, we depart

& we leave no trace

but for the traceless

evidence of our absence.

 

This walking person is.

We are a moment of this.

 

At the deepest level

they simply appear

out of the darkness

 

absolutely unique

in all ways

& utterly born

from the vast

remainder—

 

only a spark

of the dream

& the dreamer

awake in the night.

 

 

Poem by Qayyum Johnson

Painting by Suiko McCall. She Who Reveals What is Hidden, 2019. Ink on yupo, 57×30″.