Making Connections

All day a haze of white

has covered the sky

turning the sun dark — 

but it’s too hot

for a nuclear winter.

The internet tells us: smoke 

from controlled burns and others

spreading across the corners

of two States. 

Tonight of course

we see no moon.

Out walking late this afternoon

we spoke to neighbours 

we’d never met, 

all at that point mystified.

Much later, watching on telly

an hour of Jimi at Woodstock,

I well remember

seeing this first at the time —

the height of the Vietnam war

and the height of the protests.

We knew about the napalm by then 

and My Lai. So did he.

Oh my God, we said in ’69, 

as he played the Star Spangled Banner

and gradually his guitar

gave us the noise of screaming 

over the blare of guns.

Confusion / connection / communication.

Even in times of no light.

Journalling my relationship with the moon: 21

30 Poems in 30 Days: 25, Include a pop culture reference. 
(Yes, the 30 Day poems are liable to get a little out of order now, 
as I seek to combine prompts when possible.)

Included in the book, THREE CYCLES OF THE MOON