a veil of mystery whatever can be revealed something hides its face the waves draw back and forward a pinnacle will fly out
“Mysteries are feminine; they like to veil themselves but still want to be seen and divined.” Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
my moon is displayed so bright – full of energy yet the veil pulls down such a strange conundrum dear moon, come back again… please
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Written in response to this week’sTanka Challenge hosted by Yvette M. Calleiro Yvette has chosen the word veil. There are several definitions for veil. Choose whichever version of the word that speaks to you, and write a syllabic poem of your choosing.
a flash of light then darkness my moon, my wonderful moon where is she?
her name is Selene and she’s captivating she can be huge, and brilliant or far, far away but she’s always mine but now she’s red, blood red is she angry?
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Image credit: Joseph Corl @Unspash
Picture # 1 shows: Total lunar eclipse 3/14/25, showcasing the captivating reddish glow of a blood moon against the dark night sky. Just a bit of white at the top! The stars dot the black background on a very clear night!
She has a new car, beautiful, really beautiful; and with her, a great friend. They drove through the evening to find a particular lake, it was almost a myth. But it’s there. They stopped. There was no one in sight. And there, she, the wonderful moon, towered over them. What could be better?
it’s a lovely night they decided to wade in; they’re skinny dipping!
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Image credit: Pavlo T @ Unsplash
For the visually challenged reader, this image shows a car parked near the edge of a body of water. The door of the car is open. Behind the car is a small rise and we can see a huge spherical body/ moon rising behind that rise.
A chance remark I made the other day in response to Frank Prem’s illustrated poem, Southern Stars for Christmas, raised a question or two about what we see in our night sky, depending upon where we are in the world. If you follow the link you’ll see the thread, and as a special bonus, you’ll get to read Frank’s poem and see his southern star pics.
We can all see some of the same stars
If you live in the northern hemisphere, you can see all of the constellations in the northern part of the sky and some of what is visible from the southern hemisphere. As you travel downward towards the equator, you’ll be able to see more of the sky from the southern hemisphere’s perspective, while also losing more of what you’d normally see in the northern hemisphere. And vice versa, of course.
There are some stars that you can only see from one hemisphere, which is why if you’re in the North, you’re so familiar with the Polaris (the North Star) and conversely, if you’re in the South, you know the Southern Cross.
But some constellations, like Orion, look different!
Coming originally from the northern hemisphere, I’d say Orion is upside down here in the South, but maybe it’s the other way around. I guess it depends on what you’re used to. Either way, you can still make a huntsman out of the two-dimensional pattern of distant stars, which form the constellation.
A new night sky can be a little disorienting
I remember, not long after first moving to South Africa, getting up in the middle of the night and looking up at this strange, unfamiliar sky. It was a clear night and here was very little light pollution compared to what I was used to back in the well-lit city of Liverpool. The huge velvet sky, pin-pricked with the brightest, densest stars I’d ever seen, was magical. And in that part-way point of being half asleep and properly awake, when all around me was silence, I thought for a moment that I’d been transported to a completely different planet.
In the northern hemisphere you have the famous Man in the Moon. But for me, here in the South, one of the loveliest sights is of the African moon lying on her back. I think of Karen Blixen’s words every time I see our beautiful moon reclining languidly in our night-time sky.
The African moon has influenced my writing. Just last week, when I wrote Home for the Holidays in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See? prompt, our lovely moon popped up in the second verse. She also puts in an appearance in Trance, one of the lyrical pieces from my San Man series written earlier this year. Moving hemispheres, countries and cultures has had an increasing impact on my writing journey and now, ten years on, the British author has become a South African one, and my soon-to-be-released novel, rather then being set in England, is set in my adopted country.
Frank suggested I post some pictures of my African sky at night. Unfortunately there’s been a lot of high cloud about in the past week, but if I eventually get some good ones, I’ll post them to my Instagram feed on the sidebar.
luna's on line 