The Moon and a Cloud
—W. H. Davies
Sometimes I watch the moon at night,
No matter be she near or far;
Up high, or in a leafy tree
Caught laughing like a bigger star.
Tonight the west is full of clouds;
The east is full of stars that fly
Into the cloud’s dark foliage,
And the moon will follow by and by.
I see a dark brown shabby cloud—
The moon has gone behind its back;
I looked to see her turn it white—
She turned it to a lovely black.
A lovely cloud, a jet-black cloud;
It shines with such a glorious light,
That I am glad with all my heart
She turned it black instead of white.
—–
The last full moon of the year, The Cold Moon, is soon to be upon us.
Here in the UK, it will be at 4.08 am on Thursday (December 8th). And I have already decided what I am posting that day.
It’s been an interesting experiment, this time night writing, with questions and reflections surfacing that have surprised me.
Speaking of Moons, I think I mentioned a story by Dr Martin Shaw, called the Moon Palace.
He read it on the opening night of the weekend I spent with him and many others.
Have you ever experienced that sense of discovering something that feels really important? It holds a significance the language for which you don’t possess? It is like it’s a message you can’t possibly ignore, and couldn’t actually, even if you wanted to, but, at the present moment is indecipherable. Questions are the only things that surface.
And just as Rilke would say, “try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms, like books written in a foreign language”.
Well, the Moon Palace is my locked room, my foreign language book. I really feel that it arrived in my life for a reason. My enquiry now is for what purpose?
You can find it in at least two of Martin Shaw’s books, Courting the Wild Twin and All Those Barbarians.
And, tonight, I found it on Little Toller’s website. If you would like to read it, the link is here.
Moon Palace, An Inuit Story of Transformation by Martin Shaw – Little Toller Books
This line really spoke to me tonight:
“Beauty is the currency that makes us prepared to get down and amongst the dirt of life again.”
If you do read it, I wonder if any lines spoke to you?
What might they mean?
Well, that’s all for tonight.
Warm wishes,
Will
As a reminder I will be hosting a Zoom gathering next Thursday, 15th December, reflecting on all things night, Moon Palace, and darkness. You would be very welcome to join, just let me know via will@thewilljohnsonjourney.com so I can send you the Zoom link.
Also coming up
January 21st 2023, I am Co-facilitating A Winter Retreat Day: Listening to Inner Wisdom – more details can be found here A Winter Retreat Day: Listening to Inner Wisdom Tickets, Sat 21 Jan 2023 at 09:30 | Eventbrite
It is at the beautiful Emerson College and we hope it will be a great way to begin the new year.