Expedition by Adrienne Jones
Here’s another one by Adrienne Jones, from Walking Down the Street in the Spirit Place. Also, the new Mad Agnes CD, Revenants, is amazing!
Expedition
By Adrienne Jones
I am the undiscovered moon
that shows up as a shadow
against something bigger
and brigher.
My nonspecificness incites
your compassion, my
nonlinear orbit your
curiosity.
There is a vast liquid sea
of unknown composition
on my lighted side,
a crater on the dark
reflective side of some
colossal,
ancient impact.
No one lives here now.
It will take you a long time
standing by this alien harbour
to piece together my past,
to assign meaning
to my components.
You will lovingly send out probes with names
on suicide missions
to send back data
that will take years
to process.
You will have to call in
an emergency crew for repairs
when things break down.
You may or may not
find water.
What you will eventually find,
if you are faithful,
is that I am not only the moon
but also the planet,
habitable
warm
and dizzyingly ringed.
My oceans teem
with finny swimmers
and birds perform
the seldom seen dance
of the red dawn.
You’ll step round the sacred labyrinth
that turns back on itself.
Leave your token at the center
and I will walk back with you
on the path in between.
