Life at Willow Manor

He used to frighten me in the nights of childhood,
the wide adult face, enormous, stern aloft.
I could not imagine such loneliness, such coldness.

But tonight as I drive home over these hilly roads
I see him sinking behind stands of winter trees
and rising again to show his familiar face.

And when he comes into full view over open fields
he looks like a young man who has fallen in love
with the dark earth,

a pale bachelor, well-groomed and full of melancholy,
his round mouth open
as if he had just broken into song.


The Man in the Moon by Billy Collins
from Sailing Alone Around the Room

The full moon tonight is supposed to be the biggest and brightest
of the year! It will appear about 14 percent bigger in our sky
and 30 percent brighter than some other full moons during 2009,
according to NASA. This month's full moon is known as the Wolf
Moon from Native American folklore. January's moon is also
sometimes known as the Old Moon and the Snow Moon.

Alas, our skies are thick with impending snow, so we won't be
able to see the man in all his glory.

photo by willow, october 08