Whispering On The Moon

If you look at the Moon even without
a telescope you see patches, light, dark.
All the way down, all the way to the left,
the dark patch is called Mare Nubium.
In English we call it the Sea of Clouds.
Follow the twisting edge of the dark patch
all the way up, all the way to the right,
and you find Mare Serenitatis.
We call it the Sea of Serenity.

Sea of Clouds and Sea of Serenity.

They’re not real seas, of course. There’s no water
on the Moon, although scientists sometimes
believe they find indications of ice.
In fact, astronauts ‘landed’ in a sea.
Just below the Sea of Serenity
men walked in Mare Tranquillitatis,
men walked in the Sea of Tranquility.

With a telescope or binoculars
or just my eyes, when I look at the Moon
I start at Mare Serenitatis
all the way up, all the way to the right.
Then, in my mind—somehow it’s here and there—
I imagine myself somehow sailing
those lunar seas that are only dirt, dust,
all the way down, all the way to the left,
to Mare Nubium. I imagine
dropping anchor, somehow. I imagine
holding somebody I love, whispering,
“Honey, we’re home, here in the Sea of Clouds.”