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“The moon hung low in the sky
like a yellow skull.”
—Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
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The moon hung low in the sky like a yellow skull,
A glowing goblin with a garish grin
And pathos in its hollow-socket eyes,
Like some abandoned, decomposing doll
Left in an attic where it long had been
Consigned to cobwebs. Did it recognize
Something in me, as if I were a mortal
Whose shorter life it envied? Weary in
That listless state, it seemed to crystallize
A worldwide woe, staring at me, face full
Tonight. I could imagine fragile skin
Stretched over it—diaphanous disguise
That failed to hide its gloom—a gauzy pall
Over the hopelessness of its expression,
Reflecting mine; it seemed to sympathize
With humans’ fear of an incurable,
Indefinite senescence. Paper-thin,
The geriatric visage seemed to rise,
A mirror of the inconsolable
Predicament that haunts the human soul
__Beneath the ageless skies.
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Cynthia Erlandson is a poet and fitness professional living in Michigan. Her second collection of poems, Notes on Time, has recently been published by AuthorHouse, as was her first (2005) collection, These Holy Mysteries. Her poems have also appeared in First Things, Modern Age, The North American Anglican, The Orchards Poetry Review, The Book of Common Praise hymnal, and elsewhere.
You have been one of my favorite poets over time with your deeply moving thoughts and wonderful rhyme. I can feel your heartfelt sensitivities portrayed in the decomposing doll that, upon reflection, also haunts the human soul summed up in the word, “senescence.” Beautiful work that I well appreciate reading and contemplating.
Cynthia, you have written this as if the written as if the 1st line were your own, and it is intensely expressive. I wonder what OW would have made of it.
Thank you so much, Julian! I got the idea for this poem when I was reading “The Picture of Dorian Gray” aloud to my husband. When I got to that line, I stopped, transfixed by both its musical rhythm, and its bright and profound imagery. I do hope Oscar Wilde would enjoy my expansion of his line into a poem.
Oh, my — thank you, Roy, for your generous compliment. I am likewise deeply moved, and honored, to be one of your favorite poets!
Cynthia, you start with Wilde’s line, but gradually move away from a skull to a face–and increasing the contribution of the human observer’s imagination–to a soul. I love the “diaphanous disguise” revealing senescence and its associated emotions as a “worldwide woe.” And I especially admire the quick turn at the poem’s end back to the “ageless skies,” acknowledging the cosmic perspective. This poem brings the moon down to earth, with amazingly apt choice of words, and then puts it back. A favorite for me among many moon poems.
Margaret, I’m deeply grateful for your praise, especially knowing what a wonderful poet you are! Oscar Wilde put so much intense imagery into that one line, that I knew a poem had to be made of it. I’m especially moved by what you’ve expressed about the moon being brought down to earth and then put back. Thank you!
I love the musicality of your poetry. This one’s even better than “Hanging Harps,” a favorite of mine. Your mastery of subtle assonance, gentle alliteration, and clever rhymes is a delight. More importantly, you convincingly bring the moon to life to commiserate upon our place in Time. “Indefinite” senescence? That phrase manifests a multitude of meanings!
Hari, thank you so very much, especially for mentioning musicality, which is one of my top goals in writing. I’m overwhelmed that you remembered “Hanging Harps”, as well! Yes, Time has been one of my obsessive themes for a very long Time! 🙂
This is an excellent poem, Cynthia. Carrying the skull image though the entire poem is masterful.
I’m so glad you like it, Paul. Thank you! One of my favorite things to do is to try to carry an image through into an extended metaphor.
This is a wonderful poem, Cynthia! Gorgeous imagery, gorgeous language, and a wonderfully haunting quality.
Thank you, Brian; I’m glad you felt a haunting quality from it. That, as well as the wonderful (and wonderfully succinct) imagery of Wilde’s line, are things I felt immediately upon reading it in his story. He is a great poet, and his fiction is also written very poetically. One of my (many) favorite poems is his “On the Massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria” — extremely moving.
Very evocative poem which has now prompted a fourth reading.
Wow— I’m so grateful, Daniel, that you’ve found it worthy of a fourth reading! Thank you very much!
Time is always a subject worthy of consideration, and you know that music and the moon are some of my dearest reflections. So I respond to this poem on many levels. A marvelous poem,, Cynthis..
Thank you, Sally! I just re-read your lovely “All Are Numbered” from last year, which includes a bit of your musing on music and time; and “An Interlude”, where I see an instance of how you used the moon to strong effect.
Fine poem Cynthia – love the slant rhymes, and also some wonderful expressions that you conjure up eg. ‘an incurable,
Indefinite senescence’ – ooh! Yes, very powerful.
Thank you so much, James. I’m very glad that you found it powerful, and that you enjoyed the slant rhymes — I’ve been having fun with those.
A lovely new take on the moon and a joy to read with the music of your words.
Thank you, Allegra! It does seem like the moon inspires music, doesn’t it?
Cynthia, the opening two lines are priceless. You are a wonderful wordsmith. I will be looking at our lunar companion in a different way from now on. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Jeff — especially for the “wonderful wordsmith” compliment! It makes me happy to think of you recalling my poem sometimes when you look at the moon.
Cynthia, what an unusual poem this is. Subtle rhymes, and an unsettling yet compelling content.
Thank you so much, David!
This is a masterpiece! I loved the alliteration in the second line.
How powerful!
I’m so glad you found it powerful, Satyananda— thank you!
Cynthia, what a remarkable and magnificent poem! I’m a huge fan of Wilde and his ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’. Using the quote as a title is perfect and you do it every justice in your allusions to mortality throughout the poem… a work which has some superlative imagery – diaphanous disguise, gauzy pall, Indefinite senescence, to name but a few. Your admirably crafted descriptions paint the picture of age with melodious aplomb. The poem has a spooky feel … a feral fear vested in the eerie leer of the moon. It’s repellent yet beautiful… bizarre yet familiar… and oh so well done. I absolutely love it!
Thank you so much, Susan! That makes me very happy! I guess it’s a bit eerie to me that I’ve been writing so much about old age lately…. but I guess that’s kind of a universal, inevitable topic.
The moon is beautiful *as* the moon but sometimes really disturbing when you see her as a human. You show us her most frightening face but still make a beautiful poem of it.
Thank you, Monika’