Crescent

Tonight the moon is crescent,
the bottom, like a short
brush stroke, is holding up
the just-visible dark sphere.

Often when we see a crescent
moon, we’ll imagine the points
actually exist, like the peak of
a mountain where a god lives.

But seeing that black side moving
through the dark, like the wasteland
of Hell before it was set on fire,
you wonder about the boundary.

From here, there is no twilight
transition into night; there’s a line
that you can edge your toes up to
and decide what kind of creature you are.

But down here, you don’t make
that decision. Instead you take
yourself, both the burning scythe
of you and the invisible shadow.

You take all the incompatible sides
and try to live in the twilight.