Fields of rice are breezed with wind against mud.

The mud is soft and ripples bounce back and forth.

A clan of villagers,

Their skin looks grey,

The night taken upon them.

A tadpole jumps from the water,

Joyful at its jump

And somberness means its dive.

Crow's flapping on the wrong day

On the wrong hour,

Cawing with each silent thump of feet.

The Moon, its smile gazing,

Frozen in indifference.

Smiling for all to see,

Even if no one could.

Its eyes sunken in darkness

Despite of its light.

Its piercing subtlety sends shivers

Down the bamboo trunks,

Sound asleep in an empty dream of leaves.

Crackles trickle down.

Eyes circling every organic figure,

Creeping under their sight.

A child in her yukata,

Trips against the loose stones,

Each shining silver,

One now dotted red.

Cicadas cry and the villagers move on,

Feet moving like water against air,

Bare soles for striking silence against stone.

The Moon smiles on.

Faces and legs

Scraped with thorns and twigs,

Villagers crouch in

An ancient forest, the field still in sight.

Bugs scratch and bite,

"You're not welcome!" their buzzing cries.

Thomp, thomp, thomp,

Hooves approach

And birds land,

Frozen and in waiting.

A villager breaks his position

To view the moon,

It's smile shooting at his face among

A wide and complex forest.

But the man

Sees neither smile

Nor eye,

For what he saw

Was only a rabbit,

Immobile on the silver disc.

A laugh echoes across the field,

Hooves stomp,

And horses neigh.

And a girl in her red yukata is lifted from the earth.

Screams of pain and fear

Mingle with lower-pitched laughter of men.

A swift silver shine

Silences the former of the two.

More red to dot another silver rock.

And the Moon smiles on

As faces under the trees

Release their tears,

Cicadas growing louder,

Sounding out the cold silence.

Keyword: The Moon Smiles On

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Comments (9)

Posted by Pilgrim 2008-07-04 16:28:56 .... This was good. I was able to place myself in your setting. Yes, it seems while tragedy and ungliness happen beneath, the heavens are unchanged in their beauty. + Report this comment
Posted by Amatayo 2008-07-04 19:00:07 .... This poem seems like you put froth a lot of effort but for some reason it did not appeal to me and I know it is just my taste. So for that I will not rate for it might be an unjust one. + Report this comment
Posted by bubbly 2008-07-04 21:56:19 brilliant! hi! august. this is nature at its best. i loved the imagery and your description is overflowing with sadness. but that is what lends charm to the poem. keep it up. lol. ;-) + Report this comment
Posted by A.T.O.M. 2008-07-04 23:13:55 i see there was something missing from this but i don't know what it is really but if you can find it then the poem would be really good but keep up the work yeah + Report this comment
Posted by Hodders 2008-07-05 10:25:38 .... A brilliant poem. I loved it! Definitely going into my favourites! You created a very believable setting through excellent descriptions and you put across the horror of the situation very well. I liked the layout of the poem as well, with the more important parts highlighted it shows you've put a real effort into making the readers interpret the poem. + Report this comment
Posted by indianaman130 2008-07-06 00:04:09 .... Great content, my problem is the constraining nature of the poem. First 3 lines are flowing, then its like your thoughts started wanting smaller lines till the end when you started flowing again. just my opinion on what i see. + Report this comment
Posted by Sad Sara 2008-07-09 04:49:16 Gorgeous Wow August! Yer must have like a photographic memory but in a Poetic sense or something. If that makes sense. Hehe I think yer know what I saying, yer clever girl. I gotta say, yer Poetry juss keep getting better and better each time I read it. And hey, if yer ever interested in a collaberation in yer spare time, I think we could mince some words and mesh some lines that would be good experience fer both. I always learn so much when I write verse from time to time with other Poets. Anyway, this is a true beauty here. I love it. Keep well, 'Anna + Report this comment
Posted by garyowen 2008-07-20 01:53:32 .... Verry well done august. The imagery was both charming timeless and chilling. Doesn't get any better when you nail these three + Report this comment
Posted by chaabuk 2008-08-09 01:11:03 .... You have lent charm to this poem through such refined words. I can identify with the situation. The nature is opening here in all its beauty. That is so lovely. + Report this comment

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