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Friday 6 May 2011

The Dark Side of the Moon

I am the moon's dark side,
ashamed of what might be
if I should face the earth,
the earth face me.

Once known as Satan or the Devil, now
with many an alias,
I hide my true self from myself,
from each and every one of us.

I am the darkness of the moon;
not dark as in a lack of light,
but unfamiliar and unexplored,
where all that's undesirable is stored.

I am known only in my sleep,
in your analyses of probes you send,
in what you're pleased to make
of each robotic bleep.

You ask what you would see
if you could meet me face to face...
You've dreamt of moonscapes
full of poetry and grace?

Not here, my friend; here you will find
those things that you call base.
This is a land where decency
has vanished without trace.

I am the rough side of the moon,
more mountainous and pock-marked than the rest,
abused by asteroids from birth
and left for dead, unburied and unblest.

I think the moon's dark thoughts for her,
for such are all I've ever known.
Abused, and now abuser, I
am banished to to be here alone.

I am the loose child of the moon;
beware what I well might do
when suitors come around,
as did Apollo and its crew.

Long lenses and sweet words
will cut no ice with me:
it's rape excites their tiny mind;
mine tends to orchidectomy.

18 comments:

Windsmoke. said...

Very lonely, cold and forbidding place the dark side of the moon. This poem flowed along nicely :-).

anthonynorth said...

You can feel the despair of its influence in your words.
Excellent.

Anonymous said...

Some lovely phrases here, especially 'unburied and unblest'

'orchidectomy'

what a great word!

Mary said...

Like the moon, it seems we all have a dark side

David Cranmer said...

Another good one, Dave. Perfect title with this one.

Carl said...

Powerful. I feel the despair of one who has been shunned simply because it is unknown.

Louise said...

Heavens, moons, dark sides or otherwise, this is wonderful.

Petite Nakomertje said...

Hi David, I'm a new fan of your blog. You write beautiful pieces indeed. I love this one...can't really tell why I got an eerie atmosphere from it.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Shall now go and look up orchidectomy Dave

Corinna said...

Wow! The dark side of the moon, the dark side of humanity, the evil, the unwanted...the unexplored. Wow!

Hannah Stephenson said...

In darkness, there is potential and ideas waiting to be pulled into the light. Excellent.

flaubert said...

Beautiful use of language here, Dave.

Pamela

Anonymous said...

How many even think of the other side of the moon, let alone use it so perfectly. Each stanza seemed to increase in depth of darkness, drawing one closer to the other moon surface - the other world inside each of us. Wonderful metaphor of a poem

Anonymous said...

The lines "I think the moon's dark thoughts for her" and "I am the loose child of the moon" were really wonderful and eerie. They suddenly made the other side of the moon a separate entity from the moon itself, emphasizing the emotional distinction you made in a startlingly physical way.

Gerry Snape said...

There you go again Dave...
fantastic use of words and images and where did you think up that one of the dark side of the moon. As usual I love it!

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Excellent words.

Anna :o]

Dave King said...

First, a note to all
I am hoping to get around to everyone and to visit also, but my broadband is proving as intermittent as the showers they promised. I shall get there, though - eventually!

Windsmoke
And dangerous! Thanks for the comment.

anthonynorth
Much appreciated. Thanks.

imnotaverse
I tried several words before I set on orchidectomy. Thanks for the comments.

Mary
Which we turn away from the rest of the world. Thanks for that.

David
Thanks for that. I often think that titles are not my forte, so that's good to hear.

Carl
Good to have you back. I agree, it's the unknown aspects of places and people that cause 90% of the world's problems. (My guess, no supporting statistics!)

120 Socks
Thanks very much for that.

Petite Nakomertje
Hi, and a warm welcome to the blog. Good to have you aboard. Many thanks for the kind words - much appreciated.

Weaver of Grass
It gave me a lot of trouble, finding that word!

Corinna
Maybe it all comes from the dark side of me!

Hannah
And beautifully summed up. Thanks.

Pamela
Really good of you to say that. Thanks.

brokenpenwriter
That is a great response. Thank you so much for it.

Paige
Many, many thanks for those encouraging comments. And a warm welcome to my blog.

Gerry
Thanks for that. I don't know how the idea came. I was stuck for an idea of any sort. I guess it just floated by!

HyperCrYPTICal
Thanks. Much appreciated.

Dick said...

This is a fine piece of incantation, Dave, almost like the Moon's introductory speech from a masque. Once again, effortless rhyming and a driving rhythm.