Good Night, Bone Moon
By John Herlihy

Good night, bone moon.
Do you have another name?
Pale lantern in winter’s January,
Owl’s eye in summer’s June.
You have overextended your stay;
You need to follow your own way.
Pale bone sliver that you are, soon to disappear
Wishing to be a star, far distant not near.
By day, you keep yourself out of sight;
By night, you grow into shades of light.
The waxing moon grows ever round,
Rising into a complete circle fully found.
Becoming luminous and less a trifle,
As it pursues nature’s eternal cycle.
The waning moon runs itself into the ground,
Until nothing is left but darkness all around.
Your golden beads of light have reduced in number;
You have finally succumbed to well-earned slumber.