A Fish Swims the Moon
The moon rises orange,
cords of black cloud circling
her pregnant belly. My daughter
drew Jupiter this way, she used
thirty-seven shades of red, traced
each ring one atop the other, placed
each yellow moon in orbit.
The teacher wrote Late!
at the top of the page.
Nothing is ever late.
Not this carillon tolling.
Not this wind tossing litter.
Not this Jupiter rising over black water
where a fish swims the moon
and we walk without drowning.
(published in As If Anything Can Happen, Kelsay Books, 2017)