Another Moon

Mama said
it only existed in storybooks

with its soft surface
of  bluebells

but there it was
spinning so close to the earth

that it bent
every weather vane in Omaha

it was prom night

and I thought I’d pluck a few
trumpets

to bring your Grandma

so I pulled our red ladder out
of  the garage

and climbed to the roof

I stood up
and imagined I was balancing

the moon on my head

the narrow windows of  Union
Station

gleamed like ice chips

and the thin faces of the clock
tower told me

it was almost eight

I was going to be late picking
Nancy up

if  I didn’t get a move on

so I snipped off the best stems
and hurried

back down to my Ford

I sped through every stop sign
on my way

to her parents’ house

she was waiting with her arms
crossed

trying not to look upset

I think she thought
she was going to get stood up

so when I popped open
the door

and told her to get in
she couldn’t help smiling a bit

she asked
what’d taken me so long

and I figured I should go ahead

and give her the flowers
I’d brought her

I’d set them
back behind the steering wheel

to not ruin the surprise

I told her she was the princess
and I was the knight

who rode into the stars

so he could flare
their notes to her on a blue horn

Source: Poetry (October 2013)