THE COLLAGE ISSUE
poems by Sydney Forbes (AMC, ‘22)
Talking to the moon I’ve been talking to the moon lately. And she tells me how much the stars miss you. How when you go out, You don’t care to look up at them anymore. I’ve been talking to the moon lately. And she tells me that she tries to shine, A little brighter every night, In hopes that you’ll notice. It’s to my assumption, That me and the moon are of the same galaxy, Made up of the same atoms, Her natural satellite yearning for you to orbit Around her for once. She tells me it is unfair that her rotation is constant, While yours is ephemeral. That you just stand still. As you wait on her eager reliability.
I’ve been talking to the moon. And she wishes you were the ocean. I agree with her. I tell her it would be easier if you were the ocean. Because then you would need her. You might even need me. Or at least enjoy our company, You would have no choice. The moon takes it back. She doesn’t want an imprisoned sea, She just wants you to look up, Like you did before. And bask in her lunar glow. I’ve been talking to the moon. she reveals that she used to be your sun. How late at night, you’d strip, Laying down to take in her light. I’ve been talking to the moon. And she is glad that through this she now has me. Although I am not you, We both find a sense of security, Knowing that you were real. That you were for us. And only us. How you weren’t just some figment of either of our imaginations. But built up of bones and flesh, And blood coursing through your perfect body. She tells me of her fear. That one day you may return to one of us. And of how one of us will abandon the other. The day I spent screaming at the empty sky, I knew you had found your way back to her.
I’ve been talking to the moon lately. I listen as she confesses how much she envies the sun, That she can never be a star. No matter how much she wants to. no matter how hard or, How much she tries. How even though it takes hundreds of days. You still make it around. I’ve been talking to the moon. And she explains how self conscious she is. How she over compensates at dawn. Knowing how your face mirroring the sun, Will beam up at its existence. Ignoring hers. And how it isn’t fair. Because at least she can guide the ocean. At least her gravitational pull, Commands the tide.
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