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La Luna
The poet compares the moon to Eve, our fallen but
redeemed mother, and the sun to Mary, daughter
of Eve and Mother of us all; she celebrates Our
Lady’s victory over witchcraft, communism, and
Islamism and her continued presence with us in
our pilgrim exile.
In daylight, time washes the moon away.
Her own poor ghost, she wails over the world,
A mother over children, pock-marked, stained
With tears—but hallowed may she be in heaven.
The sun is younger, like a spotless moon.
Through fog enough, we peer in morning light.
She gives herself to vision like a pearl,
Her mother’s mother, milk-washed in the haze.
The moon beneath her feet. And every hex
They cast beneath the waning bow, the flags—
Crescent or sickle: all go under now.
Our mother’s brown and gypsy face appears,
Her soft half-smile steady through the lurch
Of time and travel, in the window’s East.
The Friday candles crown her head with glow.
The heirloom crescent glimmers on her breast.
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El Soldado
The poet honors soldiers and equestrians as
guardians over the tombs of heroes and civilians
and over the ever-necessary work of burying the
dead.
The lilies stand around the Easter throne,
Anonymous and ceremonial.
The grave of God too had an honor guard.
A Roman spear stood by at Calvary.
The eagle of insignia will fold
Its wings in witness. And the Unknown’s tomb
Is guarded always by an unknown guard.
The sun goes down. The perpetual light
Is stored where no one sees it, in the heart.
Illuminations. Human arrangements
In capes and laces at equestrian wakes
Are keeping watch and burying the dead.
Against alarms by night. An airplane roars.
From far below replies a muffled boom.
It tells us: trust the plan. The only way.
Trump straightens to replace the corpsman’s hat.
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Monika Cooper is an American family woman.
I loved the supernatural feel to La Luna, Monica. Just when you think you’ve read every possible version of moon imagery… along you come.
Thanks for the reads.
Well, thank you. I do love the moon: in her place, of course, which always seems to be changing. “I put it shining anywhere I please.” And yet the best place for her is always under Mary’s feet.
Monika, these two are significantly lovely as your poems usually are, and yet more full of complex symbolism. I don’t know the set of images to which you refer (and about which you have told us), but I suppose the range of your symbols accompanying each image comes from it. The headnotes imply that you as poet add more in the way of interpretation. They do help the reader!
“La Luna” departs from the common Christian symbolism viewing Mary as the moon who reflects the light of Jesus the sun. However, Mary as the new Eve is also well-known in Christian art, as is the moon beneath her feet when she is understood to be the figure represented in Apocalypse 12. Here you take all these little emblems and more to make a sort of Baroque monstrance with the lunette (to hold Jesus) in its center! As my personal name means “pearl,” I very much like the figure of Mary the morning sun as “a pearl, her mother’s mother, milk-washed in the haze.” How long would be the analysis with just a touch on every ray of light you provide!
“El Soldado” seems to represent the very spirit of ideal soldiery in its functions of watching and guarding. You bring in the ceremonial aspect of military dress, and conclude with the element of trust in a commander, which is indeed the only way for a soldier to “trust the plan” with the unquestioning obedience required of him. Your last line here recalls to me a former student. His greatest joy as an exemplary young Marine was assignment as one of twelve honor guards to President Trump on state occasions.
Thank you, Margaret! I’m so glad you commented. I really appreciate your sensitive reading and your characterization of the La Luna poem as Baroque. I think the series did end up being somewhat Baroque in spirit.
You can see a list of the 54 loteria cards here along with an explanation of the original game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loter%C3%ADa. The pictures with the cards are a lot of fun. They have less occult baggage than Tarot and, as a set of images, they’re more grounded in the everyday. Writing a series based on them gave me a chance to comment on a generous sample of things in the universe, mundane and sublime: something like an alphabet book.
Some background for the sheer joy of it and because I think you share my interest in this kind of lore, the image of Mary in my mind for the last lines of “La Luna” was the image of Mater Misericordiae from the Gates of Dawn shrine in Vilnius. It’s usually displayed in a monstrance-like golden frame that represents the rays of the sun shining from behind her face. And there’s a large silver crescent moon with its horns arising on either side of the image.
The cross superimposed on the sun, and sometimes with the crescent moon near the foot of it, is a common motif in Lithuanian religious art, symbolizing the triumph of Christ over sun-worship and Islamism. Now Lithuania can also rejoice in His triumph over Soviet communism with its hammer and sickle.
The image of Our Lady at the Gates of Dawn shows her without her Baby visible but I like to think that it portrays the secret moment of the Incarnation.
Your name suits you! And how wonderful about your former student being a Marine honor guard for Trump.
Every line of the first verse of “El Soldado” is brilliant. To describe the Easter lilies as “anonymous and ceremonial” — wow! Both poems are lovely, and communicate an unmistakable mood.
Thank you so much, Cynthia (a synonym for La Luna, yes?). I’m glad to know that the mood came across.
Lovely stuff, Monika, and you don’t need no dadgum rhymes to pull it off, either. I sometimes wish I had enough confidence in my own words to try this kind of thing on my own.
Thank you, C. B.! These poems had a certain urgency and a lot of ground to cover so I decided to travel light. It’s a mode worth trying, if you have a mind to.