XVIII  THE MOON -- SEARCH THROUGH DARK WATERS

I
Long enough I have crawled
through the mud of my pool--
now I surface slowly
through murky green layers
towards the flickering light that swims
in a dark sea of sky.

The moon ripples in the water,
enchanting the waves with light,
so bright on the bank's grass,
so dim down here.
There plants grow straight & green,
here the slimy seaweed drapes
round me, so hard to shake off.

Mighty moon, I'll reach you:
I think I am a creature
whose gills were designed for land.
I've glimpsed there's more
than this endless wet,
& now I cannot sleep.

I wish I were a tadpole
who knows
his destiny.

II
Beside her wheel
Fortuna cries,
"Your aspirations
are born of lies,
you guess your nature
from the shape you see
in the carnival mirror
of the heaving sea.

"You will swim to a surface
that isn't there,
try to reach a moon
suspended in air,
believe in illusions
of distant hills,
& try to walk on land
with fishes' gills!"

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