"Rising Once Again"

(Re-reading the Rubaiyat*)

The moon is coming to the full

white-gold over a rosy sunset,

the first star tiny above and far.

Nights like this, I think of the redhead.

“Ah moon of my delight, that knows no wane”.

(That phrase I fit to him always.)

He was lithe and tall with flowing mane,

a fabulous creature of passion.

I wonder where he sleeps tonight,

clutching the air with his great paws —

still alive on the earth? Under what moon?

I know he remembers me too, always.

I turn the pages of the old book

in my mind only, in memory.

The first star is tiny above, and far.
The moon is coming to the full.

*The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by Edward Fitzgerald.

31 Poems in 31 Days (Poewar / Writer's Resource Centre). Prompt: Reread some of your old poetry. Write a new poem about a subject from one of your old poems. See how revisiting it feels.

I found that I still stand behind the sentiments with which I first wrote old pieces, and am usually still happy with the versification too. This one, from 2001, never worked as I wanted it to. I didn't write a completely new poem but gave it an extensive rewrite; it's greatly altered.