A Gift of Moonlight


I drew my first breath
in the land where the wild things are.
Things are different on his side of reality.

He can exist only in a small wrinkle in time
of my life. I don’t want to think about
the one hundred years of solitude
that must follow once that wrinkle is ironed out.

But in this space, in this time
where we exist together
I want to do right by his heart,
as tender and fast burning as it is.

I can’t—won’t—change my nature.
There is too much moonlight in me.
But in the time we do have
my moonlight is his.


Song Choice: I'll Stand By You by The Pretenders

Liner Notes for this Groove: This poem was created for the Weekend Mini-Challenge at Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads: 1 Poem, 3 Titles. I used the titles Where the Wild Things Are, A Wrinkle in Time, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. This also is an expansion of a blackout/found poetry bit that I created using a page from my short story collection, The Trouble with Wanting and Other Not-Quite Faerie Tales. Since this piece comes from the story, "Make Mischief, Not War" I wrote it from the point of view of a character in the story, Cordelia, a relatively young fae girl who is bored by the idea of human wars, but is willing to go along if it means keeping her human friend, Gwydion, safe.

This page comes from the story "Make Mischief, Not War"
To see more blackout/ found poetry, pop over to my Instagram.

48 comments:

  1. There is too much moonlight in me.. Love that! But it makes me shudder to contemplate 100 years of solitude.

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    1. That's the downside to a long life, especially if you decide to care about someone or something you know will never, ever life as long.

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  2. A strange coincidence, Rommy, that we have both written about moonlight! I love that you chose Where the Wild Things Are – I used to love reading it to my daughter and will be reading it again to my grandson. What I love most about this poem is its wistfulness and tenderness.

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    1. That was one of my favorites to read to my kids too. It helped that I have a son named Max. :D

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  3. Ooh this is so enchanting, Rommy!💞 I love "There is too much moonlight in me."😊

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  4. "I want to do right by his heart,
    as tender and fast burning as it is."

    That is so beautiful. Today is my wedding anniversary. I'm going to make this my mantra.

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    1. I am truly honored by that. :) Have a fantastic anniversary!

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  5. Great job on this prompt! Slow reader that I am, I'm still in the midst of reading your book but I'm enjoying all your stories so far! I've got two left.

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    1. Yay! LOL, no worries. The hubs is a slow reader too. It took him ages to read. I think I need to release an audiobook version at some point to make him happy.

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  6. Brilliant and beautiful. I especially love, 'There is too much moonlight in me'.

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    1. Thanks Rosemary. That does seem to be a fan favorite. :)

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  7. I love this, it's truly beautiful,

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    1. Thanks Linda! It was tricky to get the flow right but I'm happy with the results.

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  9. Oh the art, the poem...goodness this is gorgeous!

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  10. I should start by saying, where are those goblins that stole my comment!? Oh, perhaps, the fae did it. I wouldn't put it past Cordelia.

    I really love this glimpse into Cordelia's head. I completely agree with her attitude. We can compromise, even give bits of ourselves to another (in the name of love), but changing is almost never a good idea.

    Also, I can hear her voice in the blacked out words and see her world through the visual art.

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    1. Can't turn your back on her for even a minute! :D

      I didn't start off this piece intending to write from Cordelia's view, but once I got the blackout done, I heard her voice come through so strongly, it just set the tone from there.

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  11. too much moonlight in me... that is so very cool. What a fun prompt!

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    1. It was a very clever prompt Magaly came up with. Challenging too! But great fun to try.

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  12. How I love "there is too much moonlight in me"! Lovely. Some great titles woven through your poem.

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  13. I enjoyed this, Rommy. I loved the books "Where the Wild Things Are" and "A Wrinkle in Time." I like how you worked them into your poem. The last stanza is stellar. No, a person cannot / shouldn't change their nature....but sharing one's 'moonlight' is a good thing!

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    1. I loved the heck out of A Wrinkle in Time when I was a kid. I read it out loud to my daughter just last summer.

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  14. A great group of titles and you did a great job weaving them into a poem. I wonder if there could ever be too much moonlight or does one need balance with sunlight :)

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    1. I definitely think there needs to be a balance. Maybe he is the right amount of sunlight to her moonlight.

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  15. This has a wonderful clarity of construction that works so beautifully with the enchantment of your words. As I mentioned to Magaly in my comment, I love this 'let's-thrown-the-prevailing-patterns into the wind and see what happens' approach that this Book Title prompt, plays with. The results are pretty fan-tastic.

    I really enjoyed reading this, Rommy - as I do all your work.

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    1. There was a lot of tinkering until I got just the right feel I wanted out of the titles and the words. Thank you for your kind words.

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  16. Cordelia seems fascinating when reading her voice in this poem. Makes me want more of her and the story. Love this Rommy!

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    1. Do you know the first time I wrote her she wasn't all that interesting? But eventually her true voice came through and she's been a joy to write about ever since.

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  17. Seems like a melancholy poem,with beautiful writing.

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  18. It's delightful, sad, beautiful- all rolled into one.

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  19. *faints* An entire story in the blink of an eye. :)

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  20. How beautifully crafted this poem is and it is a joy to read.

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  21. I love "there is too much moonlight in me"...what a fabulous image..and thought.

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  22. This is truly beautiful! I love your words and I love your art! Big Hugs!

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