
I've met many a fool, said the moon, who loved me full.
It's another thing to love my mystery.
I'm as present in my waxes and wanes
as when I light up the whole sky.
And even when the sky appears dark,
no trace of me in the waters,
I never disappear from myself.
I met a stargazer once who knew that.
He never asked after the peculiarity of my phases.
And when I disappeared from sight,
as I often had to,
He set a cup on his porch
and caught the starlight
that belonged to everyone,
the same that is mine.
Sometimes,
when I was thirsty,
I asked him for a drink,
if only to know what it was
to drink from myself,
refracted star water and all.
(Aimee Hansen)