Prayer to the Watery Moon

Today, July 28^th the moon is a thin waxing crescent, just 9 percent illuminated. Last Thursday, July 24^th, the new Leo Moon rising threatened to awaken long-buried desires… apparently…

The Moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done —
“It’s very rude of him,” she said,
“To come and spoil the fun.”

Lewis Carroll: from Alice Through the Looking Glass

Remember
Remember
In this world
Wherever you are
Whatever you do
By the sea
Up a gum tree
In Brighton
Hove
Or Spain
Remember
You cannot 
Think about water
Unless…
You think
About the moon

Every molecule of water
On this earth
From a thimble-full
To a great ocean
Any body of water
Any body
Yours, mine,
The bloke next door
Any woman
Man
Or child
Animal
Plant
Plankton
Is affected
By the gravity
Of the moon…

We are all lunatics

Invisibly
Surreptitiously
Gently 
Lovingly
Hormonally
She affects us
And changes us
Yet we rarely think of her
Unless we brutally explore her
Or pay innocent homage
To romance
In June
Under a full moon

Her breath-taking beauty
Lights up the sea 
Whispering watery words
Invitations to poets
Proffering mysterious illumination
To nocturnal beasties

She is the Queen of the Night
And we bow to her
With love and gratitude 

A Letter to Oscar Wilde

Dear Oscar Wilde,

You once described fox hunting as “the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable”. It’s a great observation, and on February 18^th 2005, just a bit over 100 years after you wrote these words, we banned this monstrous, cruel sport in the UK.

Sadly, since then, we have also staged an unprecedented attack on wild-life in this country, creating a strange ecosystem where many animals, including foxes, have become scavengers, and song birds have all but disappeared from many urban gardens. But the fox has moved into the City – and it’s always a thrill to see something so beautiful appear unexpectedly at the bottom of a suburban garden.

And that will not be the only improvement you might note… 67 years after you died, homosexuality was decriminalised in England, and this has to be a very, very good thing.

So even though the land is polluted, the water contaminated, and the air quality is not great, we are striving to be better; the mysterious beauty of the fox is a mystical reminder of this.