After an unexpected hiatus from writing, I’m trying to find my way back into a routine. As it’s the first Friday of the month, and the Inklings have been so supportive and kind, I decided posting today would be a good first step. I am cheating a bit, though, because the poem I’m sharing today was written in early November.

This month, Mary Lee challenged us to “Type a color into the search bar of public domain image archive and choose an image to write from.” I entered “white” and found this image, which I think matches my poem quite well:

Last fall, I shared the picture book version of Ada Limón‘s magical poem, In Praise of Mystery, with gorgeous illustrations by Peter Sís with my sixth graders. We were reading A Rover’s Story, by Jasmine Warga, at the time, and I challenged them to write an ode to Mars. I wrote this poem as a model for them.

In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for the Moon
(after Ada Limón)

Luna, Selene, Chandra, Moon
Keeper of time, guardian of dreams
You dazzle us with your charm.

We miss you each month while
You’re off playing hide and seek with the sun.
Your absence deepens your mystery
And we wonder about your changing face.

Some nights you shine silver, 
Like a huge coin hanging in the sky.
Other nights, your glow is as golden 
As a ripe apricot.

And always we wonder: is anyone there?
We gaze at your surface and see
Old men, rabbits, foxes, toads.
We ask, what could those craters be hiding?

Tethered together.
We are on this cosmic ride for eternity.

© Catherine Flynn, 2025

Please be sure to read my fellow Inklings responses to this challenge:

Heidi @ My Juicy Little Universe
Linda @ A Word Edgewise
Margaret @ Reflections on the Teche
Mary Lee @ Another Year of Reading
Molly @ Nix the Comfort Zone

Then head over to Beyond Literacy Link, where Carol has the Poetry Friday Roundup.