White Clover
Once when the moon was out about three-quarters and the fireflies who are the stars of backyards were out about three-quarters and about three-fourths of all the lights in the neighborhood were on because people can be at home, I took a not so innocent walk out amongst the lawns, navigating by the light of lights, and there there were many hundreds of moons on the lawns where before there was only polite grass. These were moons on long stems, their long stems giving their greenness to the center of each flower and the light giving its whiteness to the tops of the petals. I could say it was light from stars touched the tops of flowers and no doubt something heavenly reaches what grows outdoors and the heads of men who go hatless, but I like to think we have a world right here, and a life that isn't death. So I don't say it's better to be right here. I say this is where many hundreds of core-green moons gigantic to my eye rose because men and women had sown green grass, and flowered to my eye in man-made light, and to some would be as fire in the body and to others a light in the mind over all their property.
Credit
From Nightworks by Marvin Bell. Copyright 2000 Marvin Bell. Used by permission of Copper Canyon Press. All rights reserved.
Date Published
01/01/2000