National Poetry Month, Day 25

Some cultures do not see a Man in the Moon…they see a rabbit. This is my poem based on one of the Chinese legends of the Rabbit in the Moon.

(Also available on Wattpad – click here.)

Rabbit in the Moon **************************

The Rabbit in the Moon
Alethea Kontis

Once upon a time
I was a rabbit in the world of men
Flesh and blood
True and free
Camouflaged in light and dark
In snow and shadow
Overlooked and wary of danger
It was cold that winter’s night when the woman appeared
Eyes white as stars, hair black as night
Blue toes, blue lips, blue lost and hopeless heart that mirrored my own
She asked the bear for help but he could not spare it
He needed his store to see him through the bitter season
She asked the fox for help but she could not spare it
She needed her milk to see her kits through their first steps
Though she did not ask for it I offered myself timidly
Offered my blood to slake her thirst
Offered my skin to warm her
Offered my flesh to give her sustenance
She smiled upon me with those stars through that night
And she was whole
She was a goddess, and I had saved her
She made me one with the moon so that all could share my generous heart
High above the world
White in the black sky
True and free
Camouflaged in light and dark
Forever safe, forever admired
Forever alone
But her love left me a tether back to the world of men
Should I ever need to return sometime
Someday
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It was another winter’s night when the rooster appeared
Dark in the light
A black shadow on the white snow
His head bowed, his wings humbled
His heart a mirror that reflected my brightness
Drawn to him I followed my tether
Back down to the world of men
I offered myself timidly though he did not ask for it
Offered my blood to warm him
Offered my heart to nourish him
Offered my moon’s light to guide him
He slit my throat with his spurs and bathed in me
Until his feathers shimmered russet
He fed upon my generous heart
Crushed it to pieces inside a gizzard full of broken glass
He asked me to return to the moon
To set for him so that he might crow mightily with the voice I inspired in him
I said yes.
And he was whole
I was a goddess, and I had saved him.
He left me there, one with the moon
High above the world
White in the black sky
Forever safe, forever admired
Forever alone
I learned too late there was no tether
No way to return to the world of men
And no need.
For I need only myself
True and free
Camouflaged in light and dark
In snow and shadow
In pride and shame
I am whole
I am full
And all may share my generous heart