Moon fishing
You know how sometimes you read a thing and it’s like opening a door you didn’t even know existed and suddenly you’re in this strange desert landscape, with red earth and a starry night sky and a fire pop-snapping and a stranger steps towards you with fingers laden with magical rings and you sense this is only a beginning.
Well. This happened to me earlier this week when I listened to a poem. I hadn’t gone looking for a poem, I was merely trying to distract myself while I was making lunch and I came across the podcast Writing Excuses (which so far, by the way, has been very interesting and a great lunch time distraction).
This episode talks about night brain and day brain and what that does for your writing.
It finishes with a poem. Moon Fishing by the German-American poet Lisel Mueller. Here it is:
When the moon was full they came to the water.
some with pitchforks, some with rakes,
some with sieves and ladles,
and one with a silver cup.
And they fished till a traveler passed them and said,
"Fools,
to catch the moon you must let your women
spread their hair on the water --
even the wily moon will leap to that bobbing
net of shimmering threads,
gasp and flop till its silver scales
lie black and still at your feet."
And they fished with the hair of their women
till a traveler passed them and said,
"Fools,
do you think the moon is caught lightly,
with glitter and silk threads?
You must cut out your hearts and bait your hooks
with those dark animals;
what matter you lose your hearts to reel in your dream?"
And they fished with their tight, hot hearts
till a traveler passed them and said,
"Fools,
what good is the moon to a heartless man?
Put back your hearts and get on your knees
and drink as you never have,
until your throats are coated with silver
and your voices ring like bells."
And they fished with their lips and tongues
until the water was gone
and the moon had slipped away
in the soft, bottomless mud.
And here we are, talking about water again.
– Source for the poem: Writing Excuses 16.13: Day Brain vs. Night Brain.
– Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash