long pair of ropes
leading up to stars sparkling
through a canopy of leaves
and dark night
the constant creak of
rope and oak ---
legs moving in
muscle memory of youth
hanging down,
hair softly tickling my temple,
gliding over autumn grass as
soft flowing water.
all the earth passed between
the moon and the sun
as if each pump of my legs moved
some celestial mechanism ---
covering the bright moon in shadow
as it moved in and out
of the leafy canopy,
allowing the stars to shine brighter
as the moon
shut its sleepy eye---
for a once-in-15-year nap